To be honest, I´m in the Maintenance & Construction for corporate businesses for some US companies in Mexico and we do some Real Estate down here also, but it´s way much different than the US, so I have much to learn from a lot of people around here and as @Julio Gonzalez, I think this is pretty much the right pad and place to start and to break my fears to start all over again from scratchAlso, I´ld like to hear more from @Justin Brickman why he voted for his city, pros and cons, it will help to read from a local...As I said before, thank you all guys for taking the time to write in this post and share some experienceDo you plan to owner occupy. $40k will not get you a non owner occupied San Diego property unless you find some unlikely alternate financing.

This is my first post, just looking for guidance, not sure what I need to provide, but I'm sure someone may have experience with this.Thank you!

-Doesn't want to use one agent-Thinks agents just use Zillow and open doors-Wants off-market deals under 10% market price despite insulting same agent and wanting to use multiple at the same time-But no rush to buy, no timeline-Also open to multiple types of homes and within a few hour radiusI am sure you won't like my post but I like being honest on here.

Hey @Chris GarnesI just came across your post, and it immediately reminded me of a project I handled with a colleague in San Diego, Dennis Bragg - https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/page/3607  - You’re sitting on some serious potential with these two properties, and your plan to step back from construction while finishing them makes total sense.For Home 1, with no mortgage and a prime design upgrade underway, you’ve got flexibility that most investors would envy.

With Google, Yelp, Facebook reviews as well as what is on their site and what type of content they are posting on their social media pages....

If the HELOC is from an existing rental property (A) but funds are used for rentals (B and C), the interest must be allocated to B and C, not A.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

It sounds like the Title Co. was not aware that the tenant prepaid rent and just prorated the current rent for the month of closing, so agree if they had no knowledge of it, would not have ever gone on the settlement statement as a credit to the buyer and they likely will not do anything post closing to help obtain those funds. 

If the county is just posting the minimum bids and that is what you are seeing, they'll likely sell for a lot more than minimum. 

I know there has been some other forum posts on this topic, but I was hoping to note my circumstances here. 

What you're posting about does not sound out of the ordinary at all.