The cost of plumbing, drywall, electrical, roof, etc. is the same cost whether you build in Beverly Hills or in Pacoima.

They’re often well-connected to contractors and property managers who know the drill for moderate rehabs in that area.

Even if the property owner LLC is named as a co-defendant for construction related liability if you implement the steps I mentioned in my earlier post,  in most instances construction related liability can be deflected to Builder or responsible sub contractors. 

I would suggest building your CORE 4 which consists of a great realtor, contractor, property manager, and attorney after you choose where to invest in.

Focus on building a network of contractors for repairs, set clear boundaries for house hacking, and take advantage of tax benefits.

Architecture did a design and well respected contractor estimated the buildout of 4 plex would be an additional ~800k for total project cost of ~1M. it would be ~1.2M for the 7 plex.  

Was a group that sets up in the city, finds the wholesale deal, hires out the contractor, has an agent already. 

I plan on taking some introductory classes for plumbing + electrical + carpentry + ???

However, my contractor has informed me that a large part of the dead tree is still hanging over the garage and is likely going to fall during another storm and probably destroy the garage again.

Foundations are tricky because there are usually multiple ways to address something and foundation contractors like to scare people into spending the most possible.