On one hand I want to suggest looking into opening a HELOC on your current home rather than selling, this will give you access to some capital for your down payment funds on your next purchase and not require you to move into a rental for a short amount of time as you transition (something i'm guessing wouldn't be extremely fun especially with a little one either on the way or just arrived).Once you have adequate down payment funds, you could simply watch for the right thing to come along from the comfort of your own home.

We may be a week away from a crash, we may be a decade away from it, its always hard to say.

I actually just purchased J.Scotts book on analyzing rehab cost, but until it arrives, I will be reaching out to local GCs to obtain a list of costs as you suggested.

That property was sold as a result of the crash, and now the Berkeley/West Highland areas are flourishing.I am interested in real estate and commercial investing. 

My backgroundI've been investing in SFRs in my local market since the 2009 crash.

Contractors took one of the biggest hits of any profession during the last crash and the ones that survived have barely made it so.

I bought my first property in 2014 in the peak of our local market where everything was going extremely fast and I ended up paying 16k over asking. 2 months later the oil and gas market, which drives the growth locally, completely crashed.

I let them know if they arrive late or early I may not be able to show as I "go in and out a lot".I take my time with them and ask all my questions.I do not give everyone an application form. 

When I scheduled a walk through inspection, they moved out before I arrived and mailed me the key!

I don't mind using leverage to get there but whatever you do don't be over leveraged before a crash in the economy.