Keeping a good tenant and having no turnover is much cheaper than the extra $100 a month you think you will be getting.

I can buy cheaper houses here and get more rent - thought I am probably missing out on some nice appreciation with the Lakewood boom.

@Scott DoyenHere's the thing about the 2% Rule -- it's meant for $50-100k properties in much cheaper states than California. 

The big question here is could you take the post-tax profit from the flip (don't forget closing costs and realtor fees) and reinvest it into a cheaper house that will cash flow better than this one?

Which would still be cheaper than a conventional bank loan because of PMI.

Houses are typically far cheaper on the North Shore but there are some real bad pockets up there as you said.

I general I wanted a 3br SFH but in the area you have to move farther away for more SFH that isn't super expensive, but there are 2-4 family multiple family houses in the area a lot of which are cheaper then a single family.To make the conversation all i would do is just remove the inside doors.

Then we sold our expensive stuff (replaced cars with cheaper alternative, cancelled subscriptions, etc), rented our primary home, moved into a cheaper apartment, bought a duplex and then a SHF to fix and rent and we went from there acquiring properties, living in them and eventually renting them out for passive income.

I see a fair number of "wholesale" deals around my parts, bought off the MLS, and then remarketed as off market wholesale deal....that will cost you a $5000 wholesale fee and all closing costs....where you could have bought cheaper off MLS.Don't get trapped in that idea, it's a trap.   

Do you think foreclosure apartments are cheaper?