As a seller I would counter your “certain to close argument” with “great, I want a $20k, or higher non-refundable earnest deposit.”

Some mentees will act as a bloodhound for the mentor, knocking on doors, driving for dollars, scouring the internet, making cold calls, or performing other services that help the mentor find new deals.

To be honest, I like J Scott's approach for 2 reasons. 1st, it's easier to drill thru the COGS details since everything is posted there, 2nd, you can run budget vs actual if you plan to utilize the Budgeting feature to track your progress directly from QBO.

I’m aware California is not the best market, with the restrictions and potential new tax coming up, etc, but we have personal reasons to invest there.With that said, we visited a lot of houses in the San Diego area and saw 2 that seem like a potential fit for us: one is a smaller 3 bedroom but a mile from the beach and the other is a 15-17min drive to the beach, but bigger with 4 bedroom and a little cheaper, which would allow us some cushion to invest on a hot tub or potential pool.

Why are you driving out there all the time?

Her gross income is $125K/year (thru two jobs).

Tax season drives me crazy - I am going to get a tattoo of a K-1 on my behind !! 

You can step in and walk thru for the final inspection to get occupancy.What is left to do?

If you just look at a place with no jobs and everyone has to drive 10-20 miles to work, these can be problematic if fuel prices rise or there is a recession. 

Might be a little far drive from SD but may be worth it.