Most lenders will require you to have completed prior flips if you want to do the renovations yourself.

Prior to purchasing an investment property, is it fair to ask to interview the current tenants in place as part of the due diligence? 

I know we will need a renter prior to doing a cash out refinance and we will have to determine the seasoning period of our lender, but going off of 6 months at this point for simplicity.

I'd also highly recommend getting an appraisal or at least having your real estate agent provide a BPO prior to negotiating with any "investors". 

Prior to jumping ship you should look into what you paid for your California properties, what they are worth today and calculate your monthly income from appreciation.

I see you just started investing in Los Angeles, did you have prior experience flipping before these two houses?

I think it should definitely be done prior to the tenant moving in though to avoid a potentially problematic situation.

The insurance company inquired about the age of the roof prior to finalizing coverage.

This means if a window air conditioning unit or portable air conditioner was left in the home by the prior tenant, and you do not want to be responsible for maintaining or replacing it, it must be removed from the property prior to showing the unit for lease.    3. 

@Gabriel OquendoI think both of the prior responses are great advice.