The kids are home schooled so they're always home.We had a leak which we took care of, but still not much of a difference in the bill. 

I've heard recently that the State of California passed a "ADU" law (Additional Dwelling Unit) which allows for a conversion of a garage to another livable structure.

[I also had to limit how many 10's she could have because if not everything will be a 10 for my wife ;) ].Hope that helps, and hopefully others can chime in and bring some additional perspectives! 

Most owners/managers charge an additional $75-$150/unit/month for utilities into the rent.

That said, simple rehab projects if done full time and correctly should expect to have about a week per $10,000 of budget plus an additional week or 2 for clean up, market ready items, misc.

Currently I have:$23k = rollover IRA$13.5k = Roth IRA*If it's of any importance, I'm unmarried, renting, no kids, and under-employed right now looking for an opportunity that matches my  normal salary range of $60-70k.

Also consider an HSA health savings account and if when kids come into the picture an ESA.

Hope that helps.Couple other things you'll want to think about too if you haven't already-- owning real property in another state will very likely subject you to income tax in that state such that you will also need to file a Kansas income tax return each year in addition to California.

However, in CA with the annual franchise tax of $800, additional LLCs are relatively expensive.

My other option would be to buy a 2 or 3 bedroom single family and rent the additional bedrooms.