When I was in college, my landlord would just walk into the house uninvited without even knocking.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Something simple along the lines of, no pets due to small shells and turf located at property that may hurt pets, would dissuade even service animal owners.  

Tell your story - I think there's even a subsection of the BP forum called horror stories.

Even though your market might prove expensive, I would exhaust all options before ruling it out.Truth is, you have a unique competitive advantage in your market.  

With the fires in CA, you can expect materials and contractors to become even more expensive. 

Even the nicer homes don't rent for over $2,750 a month there.

@Marcus Stokes, house flipping is a full-time business operation, even with current market conditions.

The reason I even ask is because I do have a clear understanding of how loans works, or should work.

At some sales they will even accept payment the day of the sale during the auction if that property has not been sold yet.