It could be ideal for a house hack as there are two separate entrances, each with its own kitchen and bathroom.

Yeah, I'm aware of that and it's not ideal.

A cosmetic flip is likely ideal for someone just starting.

Ideally I would like to purchase a apartment condo (1000 sq foot) in the Mountain View Sunnyvale area and pay additional money instead of paying rent and building zero asset.

There may be an agent that is ideal for you at a brokerage that specializes in serving investors.Referrals: Seek referrals from other real estate investors, particularly those operating in the Houston region.

Ideally, he wants to have it refinanced into a conventional loan.

While the other friends/tenants have agreed to share responsibility, I'm concerned that once they're actually accountable, they may opt to drop the lease and, ideally, move out.

Do you need a certain amount of cash flow, are renovations required, how many bedrooms, etc4)who’s your ideal tenant, if you’re renting out?

You mentioned a house price of 400K and a monthly rent of 2.5K  If we calculate based on these figures, then your rental yield is only 6.25% (2.5K*12/400K)(2.5K×12)/400K×100% = 6.25% Generally speaking, an ideal rental yield is around 8%-10%Consider renovating and upgrading to increase rental income or using financial tools such as mortgages to optimize cash flow.

Ideally to really keep everything separate you'll want to just have your LLC, and not your name, on it and that'd likely require a novation or a new policy(full cost of title insurance paid again).