I've seen a lot of conflicting advice that cautions to avoid areas with high crime rates due to complications and extra costs from the tenant base and property crime.I understand that both cities have shown crime rate improvements, but their overall rates are still way above average.What makes these cities attractive for investment despite this?

I knew it would appraise ok.Had a buyer with an agent that wanted $4k in closing costs, so they offered the $10k extra.

So my challenges will be either to find a lender willing to accept debt for the down payment or raising the entire capital stack but I'm not sure I would have enough 'friends' to raise that much and the more members in the LLC, the more it acts like a security.When I stated 'avoiding the bank requirements,' I was referring to the process of going through committee approval, extra documentation, negotiating any covenants, etc. 

For example, if you are doing a rental arbitrage model and paying 1000 in rent 300 in utilities I would at least double this to make a profit cover depreciation of the furnishings and leave some extra breathing room just in case.

Not so much in actual terms of the deal (although that can be intricate also) but for the effects on the seller and/or their portfolio.

If you can pull out an extra $20K a year I would go that route with the STR and you can use other VRBO's/AIRBNB receivables to find out local annual ROI/NOI.

A Lot of agents 1) don’t really know all the intricacies/procedures/rules/strategies to do a short sale and 2) don’t want to do all the extra work involved in one, for no extra fees.Attorneys are not great for negotiating/processing shorts sales…they often slow the process down are not needed.If it comes to that point, have a talk with your agent, and their broker, about switching to an agent with short sale experience.You would need to show a financial hardship though….as in you can Not afford to pay the negative cash flow indefinitely. 

Most people lack the money for a down payment, and their personality tells them if they do have some extra money spend it on a good time, beer, a vacation, new skis, a gift for junior, etc...

For me, I always have goals when I sit down each year and the fact is that it really takes me an extra 2-3x to get the those goals than I really thought.

You may also find certain markets where alternative rent strategies (MTR, STR, rent by room, etc) produce enough extra income to justify the increased work involved but the difference in income from the different rent strategies in many markets is just sufficient to justify the increase in effort involved.$100k is going to be challenging in coastal CA cities.