Really, if society can't function, there are no animals or bugs to eat, no vegetation to eat and/or grow, no clean water to be drank; you die right away or you live for 6 months on ramen noodle and die anyways.

It depends heavily on the condition of the house and the current age of each major item that would fall under CAPEX (roof, water heater, etc.).Calculation and Life of Major CAPEX ItemsThat link above is awesome.

Also do not too heavily discount principle pay down.  

Here's the story:In the 1990's, I was heavily invested in technology mutual funds.

There is a process that is heavily regulated.

But my decision will be heavily motivated by real estate anyway, and I'll definitely want to make some contacts at the new location.

I invest heavily here and you can pick up a decent home for close to 50k.

Yah, my family and I have been looking for 2-4 units and have been focusing a lot of our attention on San Bernardino because of the relatively high inventory for Multi-Familys and the comparably high cashflow even when the property is heavily leveraged.

Also, investing too heavily in real estate causes you to be vulnerable to systematic risk in the real estate market.  

We based our estimated value too much off of what we were seeing on a value/income per sq. foot/unit with the most nearby/similar properties.  2-4 units use a 1025 appraisal form and while they will measure the income approach to value, the sales comp approach is always the more heavily weighted factor on 1-4 unit valuations.