Betting on a live-in flip to get more money for your next deal is not a great idea if your house hack was your first investment.

At the moment, I believe your best bet are some cities in Broward and Palm Beach.

Rather just get a flat fee from a lawyer to write stuff up for me, or bet on an a la carte online medium to curate it for me. 

You could certainly "be in the right" regarding getting screwed over by the builder but this is a situation that is going to be very very risk for a hard money lender - typically stay away from unfinished rehabs/builds due to running out of money.Your best bet I would say is to find a local private money partner (maybe as more of an equity investor) or to try to finish one first and then re-evaluate, instead of trying to borrow for rehab on both

Oh and I little hint...I keep hearing that rental arbitrage is quite popular for landlords in San Diego.

Just doing some education for myself and others on a popular resource. 

Some say a local commercial lender is the best bet, but in certain areas even the local banks don't want the "risk" of a multi-family turned into a boutique hotel. 

It's a solid bet, but there are literally hundreds of others that could work just as well if you take the time to investigate.

We have decades to bet on appreciation in more desirable parts of Southern California.  

Hi @Brandon Jenseni think your best bet while you "get back on your feet" is to have someone else in your partnership be the guarantor for the loan. when it comes to fix and flip lending, your LLC will take title to the property.