No other way to do it. 

No I've never used a 203.  

.- The CA rules seem to have many rules related to financing such as seller must include appraisal, no balloon payments before 10 years, etc.

I imagined that to mean that a 1920 home with no renovations would cost more to insure than one updated to 2024 specifications.Is this something that is just "known" to flippers/renovators and I am just coming across it?

The problem is we have so many mom and pop landlords and there is no central system to communicate new laws. 

On buy-and holds we usually replace all the plumbing with pex, no matter what, because galvanized has a life expectation of about 60 years, so I usually take the sooner than later approach.Stick with hard money, like Mach1 or or MKE hard money (Scott Lurie) as they will not leand on a deal that does not pencil out, so you have the added benefit of someone experienced looking over your numbers.

No way to know yet. 

In Texas, as a licensed agent, you’re generally required to use TREC-approved forms for real estate transactions unless an exception applies, like (I believe) leases longer than 1 year or where no TREC form exists.

No, I've not invested with SCDC, and it's not likely I will without evidence they can do / have done what they've claimed on their web site.

No personal income or tax returns are required.