Laura L. has the right idea, and I am planning something similar, although I may spend a little more than 10k on the boat....And I think I would climb Kilimanjaro again- I did it about six months ago but I had pneumonia on the way up and wasn't loving summit day.

Without the out of state pressure those values I think would have rarely climbed out of the 2 to 3 % rule as that is all a in the know investor will pay for the risk/reward of the current condition of those areas.. most all of the commercial has closed  so its really just schools and homes..

I've almost paid off my 3 bed 2 bath 2 car garage 1,700 sq. ft. home mortgage, that I bought for $144,900 that is now worth over $345,000 and climbing. 

Either way, I don't believe prices will be this low again, especially with interest rates slowly climbing.  

Anyway, this was an apartment where a cat had been allowed to poop all over and climb on the counters where food was left out.  

As a fellow educator...I find your story inspirational while continuing my climb up the real estate ladder.  

So many good points mentioned here like low supply and high demand which is one factor, cheap money (low interest rates), immigration wait lists, great place to live (when foreigners research Canada, they immediately are drawn to BC, landlocked and the likeness of Vancouver to Sydney Australia (when I was born and raised and saw property continually climb year after year to this day!!)

If they are already climbing, they can quickly continue and dig into the minor profit margin you already have.In my opinion, Benicia is a great town to invest in 5-7 years ago.

@Chris Schorre I believe even at 8% interest rates we will continue to see climb in price. 

Considering that few tenants climb up on the roof and tear off the shingles, or take sledgehammers to the units, you would still be looking at a reasonable profit over time if all of your catastrophe came true.