I would undertake this but I am fearless crazy when it comes to home repair.

What is the one thing that contributed most to your success in your undertaking?

One of the most Task that you need to undertake is determining what your endgame goal is going to be.

It's not that tough if you have your systems in place already but a big undertaking if not and very stressful.

The rates on a 203k loan are higher than other owner-occupied loans due to the higher risk the lender is undertaking, so if your plan is to hold long term, it's best to get out of that loan and into something else sooner rather than later.

@Calvin LinThink of your question from a passive investor point of view: would LP entrust money to someone to invest into an undertaking that they've never done before?! 

But first things first--I need to estimate rehab costs for the entire project undertaking before I can even move forward with this daydream of mine.

At the most basic level, if it is an expensive and large undertaking, it is probably more capital in nature versus a less expensive job that will likely occur several times over the life of the asset,  which indicates it might be an expense that can be deductible in the year paid (and charging to your credit card is paid for deduction purposes).  

Around here, undertaking a renovation would require you to remove the knob-n-tube in the parts of the property being renovated.

I'm going to read between the lines and say that you want to flip houses in OC but do not have the financial resources to commit to such a huge undertaking (purch/rehab/holding costs, etc.?).