This is all speculation so far though.

(By appreciation I want at least national average, Im not talking about making a killing off of it by speculation buying.

I understand this property wouldn't appreciate like other real estate likely will in CO (speculation) but as a buy and hold cash flow property with some forced appreciation, is starting off with this older mobile home a god/bad way to launch?

I also come from a project management background, so was well aware of the amazing feats that can be accomplished with a competent team.When it was time to invest, I scanned all markets I had any sort of access to, evaluated which other ones I could enter with reasonable safety by utilizing unfamiliar teams on the ground, then crossed that over with potential returns.I'm a pure cashflow investor, never like to speculate, so reliable monthly cashflow was criteria no. 1, followed closely by no. 2 - ease of management and low maintenance, then finally no. 3 - Affordability (which equals hedge and diversity), and last but not least, no. 4 - would I like to visit once or twice a year, at worst case, if things require my hands-on attendance.A combination of the four pointed at Japan, which is where I'm primarily invested (with smaller portions of our family portfolio in the US, Europe and Australia), although I'm only living there half the year at this point, thanks to good team utilization which means I don't need to go there unless I want to - this may change now that the yen's down and our son's nearing primary school age - which is the whole point of renting where you live and investing where the money and the environment works for you - to retain the flexibility and lifestyle benefits of being able to work and live anywhere we want at any given time.This is, of course, a long process of rationalization and calculation summarized in a nutshell - if I haven't bored you to death yet, and you want to hear more about the hows and whys of investing overseas, feel free to contact me. :)Best of luck in your chosen path, you seem to be considering all the right factors before embarking on it - I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride.

Truly quantifying that is too iffy and speculative, in my view. 

Equity Build UpCashflow is always a base requirement, without CF it's speculation. 

The problem I see is that you are looking for guaranteed growth, but real estate investing is also speculative.

From pure speculation, I think the market here in San Diego will see a decline in prices, especially if the three major universities in San Diego aim for online classes in the fall (5%+ of the cities renters). 

We can speculate all day long, but the reality is the lenders will have many different variations of each type of loan that may make them fit your exact needs.

These investors are banking that they'll make their money back through future appreciation which can be seen as speculation/gambling not investing.