Most of the lenders I work with (provided you have experience and a credit score over 660) would do up to 85% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab costs, provided this doesn't exceed 75% of the ARV.As for the idea of selling the land, great idea.

Any advice or shared experience would be great.

Having no experience is risky.

To avoid going through the same poor experience, keep reading.Even if someone gives you a referral here, do NOT make the mistake of assuming that the PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Again, this is just my personal experience. 

I think the before vs after pictures really speak primarily to your experience and ability to execute a project so it can help lenders gain comfort with future projects and allow you demonstrate what level of detail you except out of your contractors.

Rent control in the bay area can be extreme as many areas have rent control in excess of the state mandated rent controlIn general experience RE investors are not choosing to add a single ADU in single family zoned areas.  

What you want is an agent with experience who knows how to negotiate, watch your back, navigate difficult situations, understand contracts and law, provides an objective cross-check, etc.

The fire insurance companies dropped policies holders when they knew the fire was coming, in some cases, they're not even paying the full amount, and there's the case where some people didn't even have insurance.For those people who just want to walk away from this entire experience, is it possible that  morally-driven wholesalers can help them in a situation where not only the California government failed them, but also the Insurance companies?

I have used Nomad for the last 3 years with a rental property and have not had a great experience.