We're renting that out anyways but sincerely I missed the boat on starting with a multifamily home.

You can get away with using 5% for Class A tenants, but we use 10% for Class B and lower. 3) Tenant Payment Performance: you didn't mention this, but it is important!

If you start buying properties in Class C neighborhoods, you can take advantage of higher and more stable rents/renters with Section 8 vouchers. 

I've talked to lots of California and a few NYC investors that have lost money (including myself) who bought inexpensive properties in the Midwest mostly and a few in the South (Class C is volatile). - some strategies I've seen California investors use to lessen negative cash flow: house hacking, mid-term rentals (people temporarily displaced from home renovation or insurance reasons like fire), rent by the room, Short Term Rentals. - The ultimate house hack, live in the small ADU unit and rent out the two levels of the main house on AirBnb in San Francisco (I would have thought STRs are oversaturated in S.F. but it worked for them and they stay fully booked).

Do you provide move in and move out reports How many pictures do you take of the property prior to tenant moves in and after the tenant moves outDo you get weekly reports when the property is vacant what prospective tenants are saying about your homeDo you provide monthly newsletters to your tenantsDo you hold investor education classes to help me become a better investorDo you have single point portfolio based management services?

Yes, #1 isn't exactly true, but it makes a point that not every landlord and rental can expect to get an A/B class tenant.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

So depending on what your investment goals are and what type of properties (Class A through C/D) and where in the city you want to buy, that can directly impact the level of stability one can find within the market here. 

I have seen some properties on MLS that I contact my realtor and they may know right away the reason it isn't selling from showing it previously, or they can review the realtor comments that aren't viewable by the public on MLS.Other potential reasons I have seen properties listed on MLS for a long time. 1) Some investors may not be comfortable inheriting existing tenants.2) It may be it is a class C neighborhood. 3) Structural issues.

Class action lawsuits are already being discussed and there is potential at least portions of the blazes were caused by arson, often excluded from coverages.