And supplies from Home Depot.In the event that I'm audited, would my credit card statements and copies of the checks I wrote to the contractors be enough to support my expense claims?

With current events, your move makes perfect sense.

Hey @Nick Naik I do web development so SEO/Digital marketing is not my exact niche but I think you're going to have a pretty big hill to climb.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/832994-virtual-military-reia-meetupHere is the event thread everyone, go mark yourself as attending and link it to your Google calender!

I am developing my skills with 3D photography/tours as well as graphic design and digital marketing.Any ideas on whether I should live for free in Lake Tahoe and work as a real estate agent in a competitive/low volume market or move back down to my college town of Santa Barbara and pay rent while building a real estate career there?

And per a recent conversation I had with @Andrew Postell - you may be able to do even higher; though I would caution about the impact on your cashflow.If you don't already, be sure to get out to a number of networking events. 

For me, my cost of doing business before lead generation is just under $300 a month - that's broker, MLS, local/state/national REALTOR associations, and digital lock boxes. 

There are a lot of great options out there; aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time).

I look forward to attending any future events.

The double digit years are over...