Regarding insurance, i would recommend working with an insurance broker (happy to DM you the one i utilize) and they can shop for the best one for your rental. 

The Short Term Shop operates here and would love to help!

I live in Belguim, so not all laws and rules will be the same here, so it is best not to read American books in connection with their legislation, etc.Thank you in advance,Kenji

Box A is direct lender charges, box B are things the lender is making you get that you cannot shop for (for instance, the appraisal or credit report), and box C is closing costs that you can shop/control- Lenders can move things around between boxes A and B to change the way costs appear.

The beach community may be attractive even if a mile away depending on the micro location, is it walkable, bike paths, coffee shops, restaurants etc.

I also recently found out about Latte and Lease's Out of State Investor Academy's "Cash Flow Coffee" meetup, which I believe can be accessed via her email list or her website: https://www.lattesandleases.com/shop/p/bay-area-meet-up-g9ny...

The further south you go from HWY 160, the longer it takes to get to shopping, jobs, etc.

It might be a good time to shop the coverage with several independent agents

You can start to shop for lenders at anytime.

C class renovations are of less quality than a B  ( The  cheap Lowes Commodes vs a decent American Standard for example) and in many Indy areas the C class homes we always a C class area and the original home was built cheaply.