One thing I would mention, though, is find a home where you can force appreciation and/or has a high rate of natural appreciation.

@Joel W.The only flaw in your conclusion is you are taking Schiller’s national number whereas real estate by nature is local.

While I don't want to comment on the right or wrong nature of the law, it is nothing if not a HELP to landlords.

I would like to know if other people take this into consideration when investing, and if so, how do they align their investment strategy and avoid heavily hit natural disaster areas?

You can learn on your own for free - or close to it - but these topics don't always come naturally to people just by reading a text book.Once you've gotten those concepts down, I think everything else you read (on here or elsewhere) will begin to click for you that much faster.

Now that Governors now they can do it, whenever we have natural disasters I think this will come along with it. 

Bad things can happen to good people (wars, economic meltdowns, natural disasters, pandemics) and I wasn't prepared to "fail". 

If you're renting now, as long as the mortgage payment is less than you're paying in rent, it's a good personal decision.Having seconds thoughts is natural.

As far as the mentorship maybe strike up a few casual conversations and see if something develops naturally.

The only thing the land has been used for has been small timber and natural gas leases to offset taxes and some hunting by family members.