Competition is moving in and there's no way to escalate more rent.The 1031 tax deferred exchange will allow you to defer paying tax on the profit while letting you sell those properties and purchase other investment property in a better location or of a better type for your cash flow.Good time to move now.

I know there was a big rush to buy warehouse space.. not sure if you can make a profit selling it at 400 a lb.my thought was once it became more main stream the bigger players jump in and it goes all the way down to the price of tobacco.. why not ?

I sold the property with a 15k gross profit and about 10k interests over 9 years. 

This market out here is very profitable, but I’m not sure about the timing considering the Army and Family commitments.

Can you see that the margin is very tight?

Therefore any property purchase should be able to generate a profit as an LTR otherwise the risk seems too high.  

One of my options is to sell and utilize the profits to begin my investing journey.

Take wholesaling for example...no one heard of it during it's most profitable years after the credit crisis. 

Nonetheless, even with their long experience, they often barely make a profit, which they say they don't mind - because their goal is to gentrify the whole neighborhood, one property at a time.

Welcome, @Brynn HatchSoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners across LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?