I would also try especially in the beginning at least quarterly to complete some routine maintenance and make sure the house is being taken care of properly. 

Get into the routine of entering them as soon as bills come in or putting the bills in one location, entering them once a month and writing on them that they were entered/paid, then filing them. 

I've worked in insurance for over 20 years and I've never see it be this hard to get routine coverages.

After enough time in this business, most especially in C-class, you will worry routinely that you're not throwing your plumber or your HVAC guy enough work.8.

Maybe you can Network at least once a week. put in one offer a week.I'll add that to the routine. 

I've done roughly 100 flips since 1998, and routinely work with several local hard money lenders in my area as well as a few national ones.

If affordable housing is your priority for your strategy going the building rout in California may not be as beneficial as buying something you can rehab.

In the span of a couple years properties that were selling for $120-150 a unit are now selling for $150-200+ while rents are capped out and even then A.) won't math out and B.) are too expensive for most to afford anyways.i spend a good deal of time underwriting properties to show clients and routinely i'm looking for deals that have been on market for a couple months or longer so i can chop the purchase price by $200k and somehow get the numbers to work.

If you're going the umbrella insurance route, perhaps see if it will cover you for several things including just the routine slip and fall (like mold or earthquake).

These funds can be used to budget for routine maintenance, debt reduction or property renovations.