The outlying areas are going from orange groves and horse ranches into full blown neighborhoods so the market is being saturated with inventory.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth....The minimum amount that you can earn as a contractor before having to pay Self Employment tax is $400. 

I have one a little further north in wine/horse country. 2023 was down compared to 2022 but that was expected.

Another issue: Mary is buying 40 acres with seller financing,  her intentions are to build a home, barn  for horses, have some chickens, a garden and 4 head of cattle.

I live in southern California and it is just a rat race out here.

I am an animal lover with 2 big ole mutts, horses and goats also so I know people like to travel with their babies....I will let y'all know how this goes...

We wanted to get out of the rat race but it seems we are rat racing from flip to flip....

New construction is likely the biggest risk factor in multifamily where a softening of the economy mixed with new units hitting the market can temporarily create a race to the bottom on pricing. 

That does not get me out of the rat race as much as it allows me to log into my brokerage account and watch those numbers grow, which is fun but there is no current utility for that revenue, and if I do use that money, I don't get to use the whole amount.

Use loc for future downpayment and then refi the property to recoup the funds Remember it’s not a race.