I'm a new investor in the utah county area, I have been doing the calculations for numerous deals Provo,Orem,Springville,Payson,Eagle Mountain, Salt lake, American Fork, Lehi etc. and I have put in 8 offers in on properties in the last 2 weeks on multi families to single family homes and condos and all have been swept out from underneath me because I am only able to house hack these properties so I can only put down the 3.5% and I get the deal taken from me from other investors that are putting 20% down and paying over asking price for all properties.

when I took up the allure the plywood underneath was damp in the hallway

san andreas fault runs smack dab through some of the most valuable real estate in the world.I suspect your seeing that ugly clay soil that is so horrendous in Texas...

Unless you're able to get the local authorities to issue you the proper permits, it will be very difficult (if not impossible) to build anything in those areas.Will the soil on the property pass a "perc test"? 

If there is a hazmat spill from an UST they bank won’t underwrite the loan w/o remediating the soil especially if near wetland.

You Will need to hustle in the summer to get a few sales underneath your belt.

Is it possible for the current owner to sell just the structures and not the land underneath?

This concept sort of on paper shows long term rental, but underneath could implement short term.  

Texas is very tough for a CA investor.. sky high property tax's  soil and foundation issues bad hail storms.. and your income taxed in CA.. so for me its a value add sell market.. make money but do not hold in texas.. but even that only the locals do very well at it.. its a tough place. you need the non income tax to balance the property tax's and other issues.

@Jassem A. i don't think i have the clearance to slide a blade underneath the safe.