Not a ton of flipping compared to previous years, other strategy I'm seeing is STR's or rent by the room/padsplits. 

Get a few quotes and confirm you’re comparing the same coverage.

I would use the Find a Lender tab on here to reach out to a few lenders and compare. 

I financed this deal through a private lender, allowing me flexibility and faster access to funds compared to traditional financing.

On that website shows a lot different price compared to Zillow. 

BUT, once we applied for the card, we were rejected immediately because our debt is so large compared to our income because DUH, we are real estate investors.I figured a lot of other investors might have run up against this issue and I was wondering if anyone figured out how to work around it.

You're also LIVING there when you house hack, so you have to factor in what your "normal" comparable living costs would be. 

I’d love to see their REIT financials to compare against the other public REITs that have a 721 program.

Anything not actually apart of your main house (or a basement that is below grade) is considered Additional Square Footage and will have a fraction of the value per sqft as compared to GLA. 

Having a hard time to find anything remotely comparable to this home in CAHowever being a remote landlord feels like a tough pill to swallow hence the confusion.