I'm cool with spending $300/mo to own this kind of asset, I just have to wrap my mind around my net worth increasing as my checking account decreases.

A real estate professional is a distinct designation from the IRS and there are certain rules/thresholds to do before you can call yourself a real estate professional for IRS purposes.You may want to factor in all of the above to see what the cost of cost seg will be and what your decreased tax liability will be for 2017 and what your refund will be from carrying back the NOL to 2016/2015.

It's been slow, but not bad (decreasing values) I guess.  

The cash flow has likely decreased since the start of COVID in LA.

Unfortunately there has been a significant increase in rental supply in those markets and rents have decreased materially from the time ODC acquired the properties. 

Of course there were additional upfront costs to furnish the property and make upgrades / repairs.We also use the property ourselves intermittently, which decreases profitability.  

This was one of the lower added value in the nation (but there were some areas including a few in southern CA that the ADU decreased the value of the property).  

We are in pivotal times where performance, planning, projections, accountability, results and networking weigh more heavily.Performance means a lot more than what it meant 2 years ago when everything was easy - in reference to high favor for sellers.The feds objective of decreasing buyer sentiment settled itself in a little over a year ago and 2025 was filled with broken promises to dropped that sentiment even lower.We are at a point where 2026 will be a very telling year.No time for lackluster evaluations and/or performances.

All surrounding counties saw decreases. 

Your "value add" is increasing Net Operating Income by increasing revenue and decreasing expenses the best you can.