I still cannot reach the original tenant but have delivered a 3 day pay and quit for non payment of rent and violation of the lease to my house because I can not locate the tenant.  

Because if you are pitching to a would-be-seller - you have to deliver a tenant, and the tenant has to want that property too. 

If given the choice between taking legal advice from my friend or the lawyer I would go with the lawyer.When going to court whomever actually delivered the eviction notice needs to show up to testify.

I think that you might need to deliver them the official 90 days notice, to be enforceable in a court of law. 

This is but one of unlimited possibilities.Bottom line, start with the a message that offers a clear differentiator, and then build your list to best deliver that message to the right people.

And I've only agreed to put 10K down after attorney-review.Has anyone had experience being under contract and waiting for the seller to fix the violations/open permits, have the property re-inspected, and have a valid green card delivered at closing?

Did you hand deliver it? 

If you know of any Cali REIAs that deliver actionable/meaningful/relevant content to their members, and consistently attract serious, experienced investors, please drop them in a comment below.

You may get lucky and find an "occupied" property vacant.If not, you'll get your best results offering cash for keys for a property delivered vacant in broom clean condition on a date certain.If you need to evict you may save some money vs. cash for keys but that definitely does not mean it's the better strategy financially.

The products will always speak for themselves and I aim to never stray from delivering such a high level of quality rehab.