If the applicant has a bank account, using a screening service with an Income Verification Report can give you a clearer picture of their financial stability. 

Happy to hop on a call.

Unless you find a deal off market directly, you're often up against seasoned investors with distinct advantages in funding and experience.For newer investors, the live in flip may be the best way to gain an edge over pure flippers, as you can usually offer a bit more since you're looking at it from a longer term perspective (2+ years as opposed to flipping it ASAP).I'd also recommend house hacking a 3-4 unit property and fixing up the units as they turn over.

We get an extra 3 deals a month from it.

As a newbie I would not go into this space without money.

We renovated the basement and turned it from a cellar of horrors to a livable decent few rooms (1,150 more square footage!)

If you do have a TX LLC just to hold a TX property, you still have to register in CA as a foreign LLC, which still means paying the CA LLC tax.

This is a state-specific question, @Curt Bixel, and likely even more regional.

getting MHs insured (the actual homes) is a challenge. 

We work with one lender that will doa  2nd up to 60% LTV but its a loan not a revolving / open ended line of credit.