maybe, maybe not) and coming from out of state,....she arrives....but has no way to get to her hotel (red flag) so a person who works for my PM volunteers to go pick her up at the bus station and drive her to her hotel.

Welcome @Alex LeeBest advice I can give as a newbie myself is to first decide where you want to invest, since LA is so expensive maybe look a little further out but somewhere close enough you can easily drive in an hour or 2.

Right now I am driving for dollars to find deals.

I have a weekly 3 to 4 hour drive and lately I have been using that to listen to podcasts.

Water Co. said 90% of the time it is an issue with a leaky toilet so we replaced the only toilet in the house just to be safe and shut the water off. 

This seems a little ridiculous even for a wholesaler .i do admire your ambition and drive to see the deal go through though .

Which areas are safe enough for your family?

If things are tight, renting is always a safe choice $$-wise, because of the price of flexibility.Your plan doesn't sound bad- but there is no best plan for everyone.

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1ugITf_2cguRqGuoF6tcBjCjFjhzak-e9?

@Marcus Rodger, I see every limited value in a lot fo books, especially about things like gearing and tax as the laws change frequently.In the NZ market the basic precepts are fairly simple.If you can afford to negatively gear safely and you have decide it is a safe enough strategy for you then pick the market with the highest likelihood of capital growth, which is generally, Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton, and start investing.There are markets where you can still buy cash positive in New Zealand but you need strong local knowledge and good boots on the ground to buy well in many of those smaller areas.