ok I don't buy a lot of flips anymore, but I did some in Vista,and mostly north county if I come across a great one I buy it but I get a lot of deals in my desk daily I can send you some of the ones I don't take I am more focus on multifamily and land development now.

OK this is quite simple.your purchase price is 391k  seller pays the lien from their proceeds.. 203k gives you the 50k for rehab you move in..Are you not being represented by a competent RE broker.. this is really remedial real estate and not complicated at all.. and these things are handled daily as you would be surprised how many sellers have title that looks like a rap sheet   LOL.

We have done a tremendous amount of research to date, but are hoping to find some folks who are already succeeding to lend us some wisdom in exchange for shameless food based bribery.We have a solid background in property rehab and estimating and one of us knows a little about the law, but we could really use some advice from those of you who were actually able to stop researching - and start investing.Are there any investor-friendly agents or investing pro's out there who would be willing to set up some time to chat?   

Quick thoughts...Have you factored in costs to turn over almost daily?

They have great coffee and food.

@Theresa Omeludike When it comes to MLS, setting up good parameters for your daily email search results is key.

That way you get daily emails to your inbox that you can just browse over every day.

I am getting more and more comfortable daily working on numbers and putting pieces together.  

I'm sure there are some food service industry jobs In which you could earn $40k+ a year if you are putting in the hours while looking for a physics job.

CA prime spots are a long term buy and hold play.. as we know the CA market is subject to some swings in values some can be dramatic.. but over time the state has shown some of the best performance in the entire US... but if your one who worries about value on a daily basis then RE can drive you nuts... if you have a long term investing horizon then you buy and hold and if and when we hit a trough you hold through the trough.. you only lose money when you sell at poor times.