I’ll also say, since you’re still exploring, it might be worth broadening your lens a bit—markets like Columbus, Ohio are attracting tons of out-of-state investors right now because they check so many of those same boxes in terms of affordability, landlord-friendliness, job growth, and population inflow, and you can still buy rentals in the $120–180K range that hit the 1% rule and generate immediate cash flow while riding the wave of appreciation from huge employers like Intel, Amazon, Google, Honda, Microsoft, and LG moving in.

That’s why I’m focused on creating a no-debt model that protects principal first and still provides consistent checks and upside. 

@Henry Clark thank you for taking the time to reply and I have been checking prior discussions, but most folks that respond do not appear to live in California.

Lock a simple, repeatable flow: pull 5 sold comps within tight bed/bath/sqft and 0.5–1 mi, sanity‑check rents with two sources plus a quick call to a local PM, estimate repairs via a lite scope and a room‑by‑room checklist, then stress‑test with conservative vacancies, taxes, insurance, and rates.

. - using Excel makes it too easy to forget things & there's not a check & balance to ensure you did capture everything at YE. 

I’ve been looking into areas around SLO, and Cayucos sounds like a great spot — I’ll definitely check out those duplex opportunities.Totally agree on talking with a lender, CPA, and financial advisor first.

Make sure you check this with someone qualified to give tax and legal advice! 

I hadn’t thought about positioning my EV charging sales and project development background as an asset in CRE, but that makes sense and I’ll lean into that going forward.I’d love to check out any templates or book recommendations you have.

Single family with an in law might be a good bet for house hacking, btw.Quincy has some definite upside and i think is still an “inefficient market” growing around public transportation. and i would check out hyde park in boston for growing gentrification as well as neponset ave and morrisey  blvd in dorchester where a ton of development is planned 

If you’re thinking generational or long-term wealth, hold.Risk tolerance: Some investors sleep better collecting smaller steady checks than chasing bigger but riskier returns.Discount vs. yield math: Sometimes it’s worth selling part of the note — you can even do a partial sale to pull some capital while still holding the tail end for cash flow.Personally, if it’s a clean, performing note with solid equity and no headaches, I’d hold it.