My take on this is to underwrite purchases based on expected LTR rents (I like rentometer and the BP's own rental estimator), but start charging 1.5x that rent for your MTR.

Purchased a property that needed some work and on the lower end of the market so homes were sitting.

Whereas I (and others) continually urge them to stop being lazy and do their own research....go on VRBO and ABNB and look at the competition. 1) What are they charging?

I just know I don’t have the knowledge yet to find a deal and a lower price point is appealing for sure.

Consider starting with a few lower-cost flips with a smaller loan-to-value ratio to reduce financial strain.Market Research: Sacramento can be volatile, so I’d recommend keeping a pulse on local trends—particularly in the neighborhoods that have potential for growth but haven’t quite hit their peak yet.

. - 30 year fixed terms - Usually have a Prepayment Penalty from 1-5 years, although you can price out a 0 PPP for a higher rate or fee- Minimum Credit score is 650 usually, although you could do a lower LTV loan at 620. 

We need to close in 1 week and worst case I may need to buy all cash and refi to a different lender losing my property inspection fee the lender charged.

We have trades we use on jobs and know what they will charge which is often considerably less than what Joe Homeowner would pay for the same job . . . the trades know we will be using them again and again. 

CA has property tax rate that is a little lower than the median.

So much so that insurance actuaries agree they cannot charge a premium high enough to meet with the risk of those "vicious breeds."