Not all higher paying jobs equate to more stress.

Not knowing exactly where I will end end up adds some tings to the equation.

Use 40 year career and 10% annual return would equate to more than $1M. 

Keep in mind for west coast folks you have the 500k tax FREE exemption on owner occ.. so you can sell and not be forced to remain a landlord if you choose to do something else.. that one tax treatment for those in high appreciating markets balances the scale of the rental equation.. 

Not trying to sound fool hardy, but based on the situation I'm currently in and the wealth equation I used (current pay and number of hours worked minus taxes), I'd need to live two lifetimes before I could even fanthom my goal.I strongly feel like a job is not for me, that my heart is screaming to go into business and build a scalable asset.

If I can get an understanding of what you mean by Asset Price and what you mean by Valuation, that would help since I am equating them to be the same.It seems that you are saying that Asset Price is Equity since you mentioned $700k per apt in equity is $17 Million.If that's the case, then we are not talking Apples to Apples.To me, Asset Price = FMV.

When that is the case, it is usually for a short period of time with the aim of refinancing quickly once the property qualifies for financing.In an era of cheap money available for investment, without looking at the details, my guess would be that you can get better returns if you contract a loan.imo, whether the property is in a B or C area is secondary to this equation 

OP posted in the wrong forum it seems, as everyone here should have an investor mindset and focus on the E part of the A = L+E equation.

Money may be part of your equation still, but after FI you can make much different decisions because you don't need the money.

I briefly explained a couple of the reasons and that "oh yeah, not to mention that the few hundred dollars per month that you're asking about equates to about a 10% cash on cash return.