I’m a little familiar with the area. As long as you price the rent appropriately, you should not have a problem finding tenants. Mira Mesa has a low vacancy rate. Try not to choose single college students. I would recommend a small family, they tend to be more stable and not prone to wrecking the place.
From my research (take a look at zilpy.com), the property might fetch around $1400 to $1500 per month rent (although I’ve found zilpy tends to be around 10% over the market price).
There is nothing wrong with expecting appreciation if you are planning on holding the property for over 5 years. A 4% appreciation rate over 10 years is not unreasonable for this property.
I would try to bargain down hard as much as possible, but even at $120k, it sounds like a good investment. The numbers look good.
