The "doctor in California" has neither the time nor inclination to keep up on what prevailing rents are, how the local economy is doing, what is happening with major employers, etc.  

If I'm a prospective tenant, I wouldn't be inclined to fork over $40 of my hard-earned income to a seemingly arbitrary website without some type of assurance that my money isn't wasted. 

I simply do not have the time or to be honest the inclination to go that far into detail, so I appreciate the enrichment that I receive by reading articles or comments written that way. 

Answer honestly.As far as your inclination that appraisers are working for the "other" party, I wonder at what point did you ever think it might be any other way???

I'm inclined to follow your suggestion and sign their document, understanding now that any investment involving an HOA comes with such inherent risks, similar to how investing in Florida means accepting the possibility of hurricanes.

So, the care given initially can backfire, it can work both ways.Your property is in its best condition now to be sold than down the road, so if you're inclined to sell, I've always found hanging on doesn't pay off unless you hold for a longer term, 7 to 10 years as your depreciation will play on the future sale.

Once the restrictions were lifted, we have seen above-average demand to book our property and have received many inquiries about booking it for long-term.My thoughts are that people in the post-Covid world are less inclined to fly to beach destinations, but will drive to them. 

Since we are moving to East Coast and I am a newbie, I think I am more inclined to find a full service property management agent to help out in the first couple of years before I build out my own team.

A big part of me wants to walk away, so I don't spend more and more weekends working on a place instead of spending time with the kids, etc.. but i imagine I work more on it simply because we "live there" and probably wouldn't be inclined to constantly improve everything if I was off-site :)

I'm inclined to start with all cash on my first purchase for two reasons: 1) minimize risk (if rehab takes longer than expected, or getting tenant takes longer than expected, I'm not paying the mortgage) 2) move quicker on a deal, without having to wait for financing The good news is you can still refi your cash purchase and pull all/most of the money out (if the deal is right), so you can then scale quicker if you're ready.