I wouldn't break any speed record to financial independence,  but I'd definitely get there. 

Having a financial partner would certainly help but I don’t know anyone. 

Getting myself in a better financial position and then at that point possibly considering getting back into real estate. 

Still, I've shied away from doing this.Either way, make sure you financially account for what low quality tenants will do to your property & numbers.

Fret not, you are probably one of the vast majority of REI's.Before you can decide what to do next, you must establish a set of financial goals. 

In a high appreciation area, typically the market appreciation is greater than the depreciation of the rehab aging.In San Diego, the rehab returns are great and historically the ROI on financed buy n hold is near the best in the nation.In your plan, you will move from San Diego (at a financial cost as well as likely a lifestyle cost) to do BRRRR in an area that historically has not produced the ROI for buy n hold that San Diego has produced (verifiable fact) and is unlikely to have as great a return on the value add rehab as you could achieve in San Diego.I suggest before you move, you attend some San Diego RE meetups. 

As this could be a great tool to add to my belt that would help us get on our road to financial freedom faster.

@Scotland Ray Smith it depends on your financial situation, are you able to start with 75units?

OK I see in another thread your asking about lease options.. and probably sandwich lease options and your lawyer is sizing up your financial ability to execute on your contract when the person you lease to stops paying you which is highly probable.. so that's probably good advice unless you have deep pockets and can cover a mortgage or lease payment for the time it takes to evict have the money to rehab the house once the tenant trash's it and then lease it again.most who try these schemes do it because they lack capital and undercapitalized investors fail most every time.this is what the lawyer is thinking.. how to you get through a default.

Creative financially is my first suggestion.