I think though one of the most misunderstood concepts of real estate is that at its base its totally passive.. that simply is not true.it can be once your in a deal.. but you still have to vette your syndicator and the deal.. that takes work.. and if your going to be in the business then EXACTLY your in the business... there are very few JOBs in real estate IE unless you work for someone on a w2 like a big developer as an employee.. other wise all of us are in the real estate business and are running our business's  never been a job for me LOL.. sometimes I wish I had taken that JOb in 1989 with Apple though  LOL.

Apple, Google, and IMO the often overlooked NVIDIA.

It would be cheaper and faster to demolish it, dig and pour a basement then buy a manufactured home of about 1800 square feet and spending $14K on giving the barn and out buildings a face lift, adding a gravel drive, landscape, plant trees, fix fence and sell or demo the junky trailer.

This will allow apples to apples comparison because everyone is biding on the exact about of piers needed.

if you get an HO-8 know and understand what it can and cannot do and make sure that when you're shopping you're comparing i to other HO-8 policies to keep things apples to apples.

I sometimes wonder if I had signed on with that little up start in Cupertino ( called Apple) way back when ( I grew up there )  and went into sales and marketing for them ...

Everyone here seems to be here to lift one another up.

The appreciation issue may be a bit of a red hearing in that while not all markets / market segments will appreciate at the same rate, a rising tide lifts all boats.IF the capital gains can be sheltered, I would try to trade up (in my mind) to better diversity and higher NOI.

If your four plex is making substantial cash flow, you could find a silent partner who is looking for an investment which does not require them to do any of the heavy lifting...

Based on my experience, there are a lot of bad apples out there and you need to be knowledgeable enough to identify them prior to hiring them and manage them if a bad apple gets through.