Selling to you could begin to feel like an appealing alternative to dealing with the hassle of re-renting the home.If they’re open to selling, you can share what you’d be willing to pay based on your research and pre-approval.

There are also others who assist in teaching you DD.Another route is to find a broker-dealer who invests in alternative investments like real estate funds as they will have done a lot of DD on the sponsor as well. 

Alternative rent models (STR, MTR, rent by room, etc.) do not necessarily do better and are more work.  

An alternative could be putting all your properties under one LLC to start, then reassessing as your portfolio grows.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative to Quest Trust Co, now known as Inspira?

Putting people in a position where they would need to sell or come up with an alternative strategy to pay off the mortgage balance prior to rebuilding. 

. $40k will not get you a non owner occupied San Diego property unless you find some unlikely alternate financing.

You could look into forming a C Corp as an alternative way to own this property that could affect your tax returns differently, I am not a CPA or giving tax advise.

So, you're actually making the argument *against* debt (not for it).I think you mis-understand debt, risk and the alternatives.

Bigger Pockets sent out an alternative investment article which included ATM investments as a suggestion.