The particular unit that I would be living in is about 1200 sq ft while the other units are both much smaller. 

I think this is a great city to invest in. I

I know you mentioned that you are in the California area, is that the market you are looking to purchase in? I

If the owner isn’t ultimately responsible anyway, then putting them in tenants name as a prerequisite to actually moving in is the way to go.

Wade Williams, you really need to start by doing your research about the areas you are interested in. I

What state are you located in? I

However, in my research of the neighborhood the property is in, I found Trulia's "What locals say about (neighborhood)" in which features such as "Kids play outside" and "People would walk alone at night" get a percentage ranking I assume from crowdsourced voting. 

Was renovated in 2009 As someone brand new to real estate investing I'm trying to decide whether this is something worth investing in. I

The first thing you need to invest in is yourself... read every real estate book you can get your hands on until they start to sound repetitive. 

Ummmm...in my very first sentence, the very beginning of it eve, I noted that I've had this happen for almost every single rental, as in I have a few...I even gave rent and value ranges for the properties....So not sure how you'd come to that conclusion unless you either didn't read my post or didn't understand any of it."