Buying in a high COLA with loss protection is a no-brainer in my book, but only if you expect to relo again.

You'd be surprised to learn that someone living in a rental or apartment, that has a family and is a successful small businessman, has the money and is willing to take that deal.

Having it solid in a spreadsheet instead of in your head or on notebook paper and playing with the numbers for the repair budget isn't wrong.

I think your pm and handy man are in a racket.

Pretty sure he stole from people in a ponzi-scheme or something.You guys are classic.  

Purchase price: $189,000 Cash invested: $40,000 Mid-term rental property in a college town.

I was told I could get 65k out in a HELOC (90%).  

Since you know what you need to buy it at and an average rehab cost, I would say $50-70k for a cosmetic flip, set the ARV based on the sample you choose and doing comps and ask them if they would invest in a deal similar to this. 

In my case, I have residential rentals in one LLC, commercial properties in another, self storage in a third, and my real estate company operates in a fourth.

A Lot of insurance companies have insurance on hold in Los Angeles, it may be looking for a needle in a haystack.