The lessons you learned the hard way in 2008 will be invaluable now, and it’s great that you’re aiming to stay small-scale and within your comfort zone of Sacramento, which gives you an advantage of knowledge in that market.Given your experience, I'd say start by focusing on three key areas to build confidence and minimize risks:Budget Control: Over-renovating was one of the big mistakes you mentioned.

I'm sure that many of the speakers will have different opinions depending on their area of expertise too

Unless you are confident in estimating the renovations needed, I would highly recommend getting a contractor's professional opinion of the rehab costs.

Whether you fix it up or sell it as is depends on what your market dictates.

When it comes to furniture/design it depends.

Many youtube videos on the concept will help spell it out for you and give you confidence to proceed. 

I have read the book on long distance investing and still am not too confident to get started.

I am confident I can hit or beat the 5% number with that combo.

I'm sure there are many more experiences where the contractor hasn't fulfilled their scope of work and gotten away with rushing the project to meet the deadline, And, I don't want to be as naive to say that I'm that 1% who can have complete quality/operational control, but I'm confident I can establish a system and hire independent inspectors to review the contractor's work. 

If you're confident in the flip and have a contingency buffer, a HELOC can work.