Honestly, the traffic is much worse in Santa Barbara and carpenteria during rush hours than it ever is down south.You have a strong rental market in SB due to the university and price of the homes being out of reach, but the market is just as strong in ventura/oxnard due to the population and location is optimal.

But, because it is not catered directly to RE, there is more in there than you may need, and/or the user interface may not be as streamlined.You can find many many how-to's to optimize QB for rental properties, like this thread https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/590160-how-to-setup-quickbooks-for-personal-rental-portfolio

Property already cash-flows, looking forward to optimizing this property!

Keeping credit cards at or below 25% of the credit limit will help keep that credit score up to its optimal level the next time you apply for a HELOC.  

Thesewould be smaller units or in slightly less optimal submarkets of LA(e.g.

Airbnb, VRBO, etc, doesn't matter what you use for listings, in the end you are essentially running a micro-hotel and like most businesses you need to optimize systems and processes, make sure your customers (all your customers) are having a 5-star experience and keeping your liabilities limited the best you can. 

Now seems like an optimal time with prices low.

How do I find leads on optimal properties to flip?

Starts with a deal, then apply the optimal strategy to it.  

Buy and hold is just something I don't have much experience in, but if it's more of an optimal strategy in the Denver metro area it might be something I need to look a little more deeply at.I am surprised to hear your comment on flips though, is the market just a little past the flip stage?