You can be as creative as you can imagine.

Insurance is going to protect you financially from lawsuits, damages, total losses, and other scenarios we can't even begin to imagine until it actually happens.You'll want to have a broker you can work with and trust that will make sure you're properly protected in the event of a loss.

California has seen huge uptick in home insurance, I'd imagine Santa Cruz has a high fire insurance

I imagine a lot of the reasons will overlap with the previous topic.  

There's a decent jump in rate from 75% to 80% LTV which also affects cash flow...I can't imagine that anything above 80% would be feasible. 

I cannot imagine anyone would finance chattel, meaning personal property. 

I guess my first question, which I imagine is similar for many who enters into this forum, is what is the best first steps for someone who is interested in real estate and investing, but doesn't have a great deal of capital to begin the journey?

According to an annual report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 26% of buyers were able to buy without a mortgage (see graph below):Imagine buying your next house in cash.

Imagine buying the worst triplex in the best area.

If it's just slapped in the backyard, i'd imagine it may not make a big difference but if you create an environment around it, it could be different.