My name is Jarrett McAllister and I wanted to introduce myself to this amazing community I stumbled upon :) I am 32 years old with a wife and 2 beautiful daughters (8 year old and 9 month old) and just last year we bought our first owner occupied investment home here in the Oak Park district of Sacramento, CA. 

Find a lead that has a mentor mentality.

.):)However, the main reason I am sharing is because; I really believe the real estate is not a zero sum game (abundance mentality and all that). :)

Understand you won't be dealing with tenants whose elevator goes to the top floor very easily, many in the low income area have mental problems and/or lack education, no fault of theirs, but there are reasons why some are in the low income spectrum.

From the sound of it Mentally it will serve you well to be debt free.  

As im free only in the week ends, and california's traffic ( circulation) is the worst i've ever seen hahaAlso the life doesn't correspond to my mentality.  

My daughter and son-in-law have just moved here for work.

I'm a retired builder (more on the remodeler side) my license was on the 3s, I've helped my daughter and their friends with their properties building attractive places at greatly reduced costs (especially kitchens and baths).  

Negative initial cash flow, but increasing over time.The above are generalizations and do not apply to every single property at every single point in the RE cycle, but it is a mental framework to understand some of the dynamics at play with pricing premiums in different markets.

You could keep it as casual as simply taking mental notes, or go as in-depth as recording the various properties into a spreadsheet, then creating charts and graphs.Once you start getting a solid feel for the overall market you're interested in, don't be afraid to get more specific with your filters.