This leaves you a buffer..... and time to fly out and inspect it your self.

I have a current 457B plan which I am permitted to self-direct through a brokerage account at Charles Schwab.  

One better would be self storage. http://bit.ly/2CILuJ2

Right now I self-manage 6 of my units and use property management for the others just because I’m stretched too thin w full time job and a family and i also do a flip or 2 per year.

I self-manage all my properties (7) and have friendly relationships with all my tenants.

well first off this being a landlord site.. and a positive cash flow site generally speaking.. most will tell you are nuts to buy this.however if you can get the property to just about break even maybe lose 100 a month or so and you have a prime Socal asset that someone else is paying off your mortgage and you think rents can go up a little.and you can EAISLY self manage based on quality of the unit .. incredible tight rental market.. that mitigates a lot of land lord issues.I mean whats the alternative you go 1000 miles away to make 100 or 200 a month.. is that positive cash flow going to change your life..is 100 a month negative going to change your life.now this is an extreme.. but i owned a home in Palo Alto that i chose to sell back in 91 because it would have been 300 a month negative.. well that negative within 36 months would have been positive.. and i sold for 500k and today that home is worth 3 million.... and once it got positive it probably would have been positive up to 2 to 3k a month coming into the 2010's.... and someone else would have paid for my home.. plus grade A tenants at all times.. being prime Palo Alto.so thats one extreme.. its really only in low to no appreciating markets with tougher tenant bases that turn a bunch that positive cash flow becomes more acute or for those that want to one day live on their cash flow and be in the business of landlording.. thereby acquiring 50 to 100 doors. 

If you are running into such high number due yo wanted to have self contained units, maybe you should look into billing back your tenants for utilities. 

I invest in self storage due to the good returns and the nature of the business.Ultimately you may end up trying a few different avenues until you find the one that you like best!

Think a list of qualifications that applies a weight to each trait:Credit Score - XPets - XIncome - XPrevious recommendations - XLength of proposed lease - XDeposits - XTransunion gives you a go- no go decision but the above may help you grade the quality of each potential tenant while being objective.   

On our own projects, we always make our own assessments of rental rates, and there are numerous resources for this data once you know where to look.You need to determine the business plan, i.e. duplexes vs. larger project, then have an architect layout the design on your chosen path, then run a set of number (proforma) to determine feasibility.