Taxes are high even after we won most of our appeals.

Visualizing all those things in detail on a daily basis keeps me going even when I feel too tired to go another day.

The reason buy and hold seems so appealing to me it that it is the closest to completely passive income that I've found.  

The stock investing model that I think makes the most sense as a comparison for real estate investors is DGI (Dividend Growth Investing), just think about dividends as roughly the equivalent of cash flow from your real estate  ... a website called "Seeking Alpha" has a dividend investor group (much like the stock version of bigger pockets) ... you can learn a ton looking around there ... if this strategy appeals to you, then you can also start by researching the "dividend aristocrats" ... 

I did not know those two areas were so appealing at the moment.You are right about the price problem as LA has been getting out of control in my opinion. 

I have decided that I want to do something else with my life and working for myself appeals to me.

It would add some visual interest and make your duplex stand out.  

I would think owners would find it more appealing for lower-end, higher-risk rentals.Dunno - whadda all y'all think?

I have the option to appeal the decision but am wondering if there would be any information I can supply to strengthen my case (possibly a petition from the neighbors?). 

Conventional loans have been tough for me to qualify for 1) not a long credit history 2) don't have a large reserve 3) living issues (I won't be living in the property I'm buying so no FHA and my high cost of rent currently doesn't look appealing to most lenders)Any ideas on approaching this issue would be greatly appreciated