(I have found a 2-1 that I can afford in a conservative 7% appreciation market)I’m also thinking about putting more effort into lead generation beyond just Zillow to expand my options.

I know some people who are doing AirBnbs to get better cash flow - it's negative cash on long term rentals unless you're doing 50% down or paying all cash but most people are looking at California more for appreciation.

only you can determine what the right investment is for you, but with rent at $1700, you'd likely be cash flow negative each month.

@Audrey Sommer as many of the folks above have mentioned, Zillow is the biggest platform that I see the majority of our leads come in on.

I get leads and I have good contacts.

Unfortunately many lenders will see this as a red flag and may not take the risk to lend you the rest of the money even if you use stated income program or bank statement program but those are for self employed borrowers who have active income from their business but write off to many expenses that when filling their taxes their net income is really low or sometimes negative.

Typically in these situations the property also is less valuable as well which turns the second into negative equity and wiped out in foreclosure

Hey BiggerPockets Community,As someone who's been immersed in the real estate space for a while, I’ve come across some incredibly effective strategies that have helped wholesalers and investors streamline their lead generation process.

While the "type" of neighborhood can sometimes make tenant approval criteria a little more flexible, we always try to avoid making desperate decisions that could lead to future evictions.The rise in evictions that you're seeing could be partly due to landlords lowering their standards to fill units quickly, which might lead to issues down the road with tenants who can't pay rent consistently or have a history of instability.

It’s a negative, limiting stance, completely opposed to the spirit of real estate investing.