@Denise Brown-Puryear I am biased as I co-own BIFI Loan Servicing.

I too live in Marin, and feel it is a solid long term market for apprecaition, and utilizing the power of principle reduction.When it comes to refinancing, figure out what the loan costs will be, then divide that buy the monthly savings with the new loan in order to determine how long you have to maintain that loan to break even. 

Starting with a smaller property or a few fix-and-flip projects can help you build equity, gain credibility with lenders, and better understand the process before scaling up.Securing funding for larger projects can be challenging without prior experience, but options like hard money loans might be worth exploring.

Use all of the proceeds and take a smaller loan initially. 

Can't you get a conventional loan?

Lets say someone has 190k left on a 2.95% loan for a 220k property.

I am not sure what you are looking for here, but you can't get a loan without having homeowner's insurance.

It's been disappointing when the fed cuts caused increases in the 5yr rate (that our dscr loans are tied to).

I believe your loan could get called if you transfer ownership to an LLC without consent of the lender, especially a brand new LLC that does not have two years of tax returns.

Quote from @Kody Smith: without getting too deep into my finances, what my strategy is...1. take loans to buy properties (leverage)2. fix/flip for day to day cash flow income3. use some of the fix/flip income to buy consistent cash flow through:- business acquisition, - commercial properties (MF and store fronts),I have no intention of doing ALL of the management myself, I will hire management as needed (medium term goal)my expected core role is money provider, evaluating the numbers, making decisions, and connecting with investors, wholesalers, lenders, contractors, and property owners.while I am just on step 2 of the journey, I am looking toward step 3 to stabilize, and not worry about if house prices drop mid project or not (or not worry as much) So to be fair this is more about obtaining and growing a real estate business not simply buying rentals for cashflow.