Lastly, if I was able to get this home at that price below market, are there loan options that require little to know money down, since it is at/below the 85% LTV?

. - Who ever told you that only 30 days notice is required does not know CA law.  

Principal mortgage balance is $159,531.

I had two lines of credit one unsecured for 5 million ( check book) and another for 10 million that we would secure them up with .. but you need time to do that bank required appraisal etc before we could tag the secured line and even at that they only lent 72% in these commercial loan structures..

It's easy to obtain, costs very little, and doesn't require extra, on-going effort to maintain.

I would look into any regulations that might require you to have a fence around the pool as well :)Hope that helps.

Your requirements to defer all tax are to purchase at least as much as your net sale. 

In addition, committing ~ $200K requires some level of sophistication on the part of the investor and you are more likely to find someone to agree to your terms in smaller transaction sizes, but even that will be difficult. 

Interested in getting some extra income with converting the extra space in the basement into a rentable unit.Basements in a one-family home can be lawfully rented only if the following conditions are met:Compliance with the Housing Maintenance Code for minimum room size.There is a minimum ceiling height of 7 ft.The walls, as high as ground level, must be damp- and water-proofed if HPD determines that subsoil conditions on the lot require it.The basement is occupied by one family and does not include boarders.Every room must have at least one window.The bottom of any yard or other required open space cannot be higher than six inches below the window sill of any required window in the room.

I can make the down payments in the smaller market on cash-flowing deals, but these bigger markets require 40-70k to make a deal the conventional way, and I just don't have that to invest.