But California also has pretty onerous land-use regulations that limit supply, and there’s been a lot less financial distress than people were expecting, with one of the lowest loan-to-value ratios on outstanding mortgages in the country.

Unfortunately, the distress of the larger properties does not seem to be trickling down to the smaller apartments.

@William CoetWe run a mortgage note fund buying distressed mortgages / do you think a bank wouldLend on defaulted loans?

Hard Money= Institutional investors or a pool of investors financing distressed and/or turnkey properties.

Waiting for market changes post-election can help find distressed properties, while short-term rentals like Airbnb can earn higher income.

Flips and BRRRRs can work in the Bay Area if you can find a distressed property and do the renovation correctly and not overpay on rehab costs (that part might be difficult).  

You have some options like driving for $'s to look for distressed & abandoned properties. 

That came to an end eventually too and we started to focus on distressed condition properties (mold, foundation issues).

Purchase price: $3,000,000 Cash invested: $67,000,000 Sale price: $87,500,000 We are purchasing a Distressed Office Building that is in Special Servicing (foreclosure) to convert to a Hotel.

BTW,  I would encourage you to open your criteria to distressed properties, tax liens, probate, divorce, etc..if you don't want to compete in the competitive market.