It's a slow process...Being a person in his mid 30's and living in LA the majority of my friends are renters because they feel as though they can't afford a place here.

Low and slow.

It also seems like most major repairs that might come up can wait for a few months, so that a percentage of reserves could be kept in a CD or something similar, with a penalty for early withdrawal the worst-case scenario.

Prices should fluctuate all year round based on peak vs slow seasons etc. 

That can potentially slow down the sale and if you need to sell before the 3 year mark, which you really should, the extra month could make a difference.

The only problem is it's been a very slow process.

When you eventually withdraw your money from a trad.

Some of my tenants go to my bank and do a direct deposits to me account, some do automatic online payments from their online bank, I use ClearNow for some tenants - this is an automatic withdraw from their account and I received authorization in advance.

I know the gulf coast is anticipating decent growth but with the slow down in oil I would be cautious.

Sorry for the slow reply.