But here’s where the negotiation strategy comes in:Don’t take the first offer.

Not a full fledged house hack, but enough to take the sting out of the rate we got.Not all of Citrus Heights is the same, but the area near Fair Oaks/Orangevale/Carmichael has a good balance of price and quality.

In your proposed case you would be compounding this negative position by taking away the best source of financing for a large percentage of potential buyers.  

Start with Reonomy or Costar to identify all the 100+ units in your target market (on and off market) and then see if you can get into direct contact with some owners.

Either way, there are several people who make this work all the time.

Its when all of the work is performed and you are literally prone to lose everything. 

There is a lot to say here that would take awhile to write but a few things:  1. 

All valid points that help me rule out HML.

They are generally large retail boxes that in my experience need to get demised for another user to take over, unless you find some kind of "local grocery" to backfill. 

It'll take time but can really pay off if you stick with it.I'm in Los Angeles and I've investing in TN and GA in the past, and currently investing in SE Wisconsin (your area).Let's connect and discuss the market.