San Diego historical ROI is near the top in the nation for this century and both locations that are above it have rent control and San Diego does not. 

We were able to raise about $8M (4 short) and long story short, ended up partnering with a national management company and an institutional investor to raise the full $12M.

@Priyanka K.When investigating new markets I look for things like population growth (upward over the last 10 years)Job growth 1% or greaterUnemployment =< national averageper cap income 20KHousehold income 3 times annual rentnumber of households (in comparison to other markets) Favorable government policies (is the local government looking to attract business) those numbers will give me a sense of the macro market.

Does anyone have recommendations on connecting with national tenant decision makers?

The main issue I think you are going to have if you move forward with this property is the only insurer that will take a property that has had a recent loss is the (National Flood Insurance Program) NFIP or government program (What is the NFIP?). 

@Matthew Dovel Here is the link to the next meetup in Charlotte in December: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/641816-multifamily-investor-nation-networkingThanks for the shout out @Chris T.!

@Kevin Uzelac If you want a long term hold, you need long term funding which will most likely be from a traditional lender.Start checking around with local lenders as well as national lenders and credit unions to see what it will take to qualify for funding for rental properties.

Side note:  New report says Santa Monica has the nation's highest rental prices ... https://la.curbed.com/2017/1/5/...

I'm not in your market but I can pull national comps to help you guys set a realistic asking price if you'd like.

Be prepared to give them good details on what exactly you want done.You know the scope of work better than me.When it comes down to thumb in the wind estimates you can find national averages for almost any type of rehab work.