However, the ROI on financed coastal So Cal buy n hold units exceed virtually every other local whether you go back 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years or 50 years.  

You need to keep this dirt simple: just a lease for $NNN / mo for 1-n years.  

Awesome thanks @Roy N.! 

I was in this exact scenario in 2006 when I lived in N Cal and decide to purchase rentals in Indy.No right or wrong decision, but the economy of where you buy, the returns you can get, and your confidence in assembling a team and sleeping at night with said team in place are all very important factors to consider.  

Property you purchased with the primary intent of reselling (a fix n flip) does not qualify for 1031 exchanges.While there is no statutory holding period, longer is usually better than shorter.  

Thank you for the insight Chris Mason and Roy N. , I figured that the bank would be happy with an appraisal to verify that the "before cash back" amount was a legitimate valuation of the property.

Hey @Roy N., thanks for the recommendation, but we are trying to keep costs down on the new deck going in the back yard.

You may want to try and find a JV partner that is experienced to learn from and potentially stick with (perhaps multiple JVs over time) for investing.It requires a lot of work, I think more than buy-n-hold ( I have SFR that I have had for some time and in my opinion for what I have had to deal with, it's a lot easier ).

Let's look at what a wholesaler is:Whole-sa-ler: (n.) 

I get a call from a great tenant ,  " There is water coming out of the ground , I think there is a leak in the water line "    I go over today , Sunday , and yes its the line that serves another house n the property .