https://www.ownerrelations.com/services/fractional-ownership...

San Diego is a VERY competitive market, so most of the "deals" are found by someone thats not you.

While many HMLs will not lend to a newbie, the industry is becoming increasingly competitive, so a growing number will. 10% down should not be a lot to ask.As hard money will cost more than your HELOC, you'll need to find a better deal.

The competition around me is 1bd apartment units and other SFH that bigger or nicer than mine.

Less competition and no bidding war.There are many MFHs under 150k in West Boulevard and Jefferson that are either turnkey or need a little TLC.The best way to find these deals is to work with an investor-friendly agent who is working to find these sellers, doing the due diligence on the property.

The biggest problem was that the pricing really starts to get out of whack as you add properties.So while it's somewhat price competitive for 1 or 2 properties by the time you get to 5 or 6 properties it's almost triple the cost of Ownerrez. 

so I get the value engineering these homes to fit the market and competition.

Explore online lenders and mortgage brokers for competitive rates and flexible terms.

Because if rates go down as expected, the market will have a huge influx of buyers which may result in higher sales price and greater competition for these types of deals!

You can use this to:* See how your listing is doing over time* Compare your listing vs your competition - daily rate - occupancy, etc.* And for low performing properties one of the features i really like is you can make a change to your listing - lets say update the property description, log it, then see if this makes any chances in your placement.I'm not affiliated with them but think its a great tool to turn around poor performing properties - assuming the STR is competitive compared to your competition.I agree with Henry that you can probably do better self-managing IF you have the time and appetite for dealing with guests and learning the dos and don't....Heres is the turnaround of one of our Floridas STR that was lagging - now back to near the top on the first page.