Much better as a short term acquisition strategy for flips IMO but always a high-risk strategy that should not be practiced by anyone who doesn't have the liquid capital to pay off the loan if needed.

If you have several properties or have high turnover you are better off finding a manager. 

I think because it's so competitive to survive in California, and being accustomed to high prices, they view the rest of the country as opportunity. 

With a 4-unit building, that’s a very high customer concentration.

Promising a high payback percentage plus a point for each month it’s not paid.

You avoid the tax hit, and still get the use of 75% of the equity if you do a cash out refi - (but high interest rates sort of play against that to some degree presently… but you could alway refi again down the line if rates dropped.  

Those remote flips and high cash flow rentals are so tempting on paper, but they rarely go well in reality. 

I would highly encourage paying a GC to walk deals out the gate, have them give a scope of work so you can see what items costs.

I highly encourage everyone to view the property before putting money down, but that's not ideal for many of them, so I do allow them to rent "sight unseen," but I am very open with them to ensure they don't show up and back out.1.

If you meet that requirement, I highly recommend it.