I own a house in Redding, CA.

Worry is like a rocking chair. 

Unless you have a rock solid reason as to why the equity will be a significant return in a year or two, I would look for something structured differently 

Before going into this, though I would be very conservative in your analysis of cost to renovate and what you think market rent (along with increases in taxes and insurance) would be so that once you are ready to refi into a longer term loan, your DSCR is rock solid and so is your cash. 

The big oversized red flag here is that the seller has been trying to sell for 10 years.

There's too much risk to ignore potential red flags.

If BRRR'ing is what you want to do places like Memphis and Little Rock would be great options for you.

.- I tried to call around to get references and could not find any; That should have been a red flag.- The second call you get is from a guy working out the payment.  

I have this condo and while it wouldn’t take me in the red, it won’t get me very far ahead either.

Do you consider this a red flag to invest in Cali?