I had more than one contractor do a great job on the first and then go downhill from there.

With their low income and it's unlikely they'll get a better paying job.

Investments from CA tech companies is driving job and population growth. 

According to Tom Cruz hereafter referred to as DB, I wasted 31 years of my life training to become an ortho surgeon but the DB doesn't understand some people enjoy their jobs and are passionate about helping other people. 

If we stay with our high-paying jobs, we can carry the properties, but we(spouse and I) are too afraid to invest in Class B or C neighborhoods.

I'm an investor here in Columbus OH myself and have seen the city's solid and steady growth with strong economic fundamentals driving the market like major companies moving here (Meta, Intel, Google, Amazon, etc), job growth, and population growth.

Your job is in Dallas, you are owner occupied?

They will do a slap dash job on a house that still has a bad roof and foundation in a neighborhood that will see zero appreciation. 

They sounded very promising and seem like they was right for the job, so we hired them to do our 2022 tax and to help do our tax planning for 2023. 

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.