One factor that is important as well is your current salary, since that will be a strong evaluation when the lender does your preapproval, they need to know how much you can afford and if your able to pay the mortgage most importantly.If you plan on buying out of state, you will be getting some cash flow, less appreciation than California.

@Lam LeCapital gains tax rates are 0%, 15% or 20%.You should also factor in state tax rates into your equation, especially considering that you live in California which has high state income tax ratesYou should also factor in if you would be subject to the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax(NIIT)

For multifamilies it can really depends on a few factors.

Luke, and remember that capital expenditures do not get factored into expenses.  

Another factor are how many of these are institutional buyers who always buy cash and happen to be in one market over another. 

I am looking to become an agent, and I know there are a lot of factors that feed into this decision.

Part of the value you get from the management fee you get the isolation factor between you and the property/tenant. 

.- Cost of Capital: when you compare your deal against WACC, this is return rate of your equity within an individual deal, after factoring out the payback of all debts and equity partners- Opportunity Cost: when you compare your deal against the opportunity cost of similar deals or any other investment you could potentially make, this tells you whether or not it makes sense from a pure return perspective to invest in one type of asset or another.Super basic example below where you buy a 10% return property, and take out a 4% loan at 60% LTV and gather equity for a portion of the remainder 25% of value @ 8% and then comparing the return of your equity against inflation and an opportunity cost investment such as the stock market returning 7%:Note that you compare the rf or inflation and the opportunity cost against your personal equity contribution. 

Specifically:A fresh coat of paint makes everything cleaner and nicerFresh, Clean kitchen appliances have a "wow" factorStone countertops have a wow factor Stylish bathrooms popSo, as I have opportunity I like add value in these ways. 

In full disclosure I am not looking to join one, I simply want to hear from those that have.If you have currently invested in a group such as this, what was the value you saw in the program and what was the determining factor that made you decide it was worth the investment?