Pick one that is improving, homes being renovated and flipped, vacant storefronts being turned into cool coffee shops etc.Good luck.

Easier to do with a duplex year by year, but when I rented to students I would quickly renovate for winter break. 

The biggest challenge seems to be finding lenders that offer these loan products which is where I’m looking for help from the community with recommended lenders that serve Texas.The Fannie Mae (or Freddie Mac) options are preferred over FHA purely because of the (perhaps perceived) limit on renovation funds that the FHA option provides.

I was able to replenish emergency fund money I had to dip into for furnishing, was able to pay off a hot tub, was able to replace 2 garage doors and paid for a larger repair this year.

You must not follow your instinct and attempt to invest as little as possible into the renovations thinking "If someone is willing to live in this neighborhood there is no way they have standards". 

Yep, gotta have a great PM that will not only handle the management, but coordinate renovations, turnovers, aquisitions.Go meet them, look at a few of the properties they manage, ask about their systems, processes, etc.

I'm looking to bundle them and 1031 exchange them into a larger property.  

To achieve this, I’m planning to scale rapidly by performing a couple of syndications to acquire a larger portfolio.I currently have a portfolio of 17 properties, but to justify labor costs and create a sustainable structure, I need to expand quickly.

We have $400K into the property between Down Payment and Renovation.

For all of CA downsides the property taxes are not going to keep increasing at large rates.