I use standard market PM rates in my underwriting, but I also would not work for those rates but it is fair compensation for the work.I typically use vacancy of 5% not because I have ever had a unit that had that high vacancy but I do not have a no payment category and I want the underwriting to be conservativeon the opposite, your rate is a bit high and your appreciation rate and rent growth are modest.overall, seems like a decent attempt at an analysis.  

Golan,There are typically two reasons why a property listed on the MLS hasn't sold: either it’s overpriced or there’s an issue with it.

The capital stack especially in CA is VERY complex and typically involves everything and more that you mentioned.

Most out-of-state syndications or hedge funds wouldn’t typically consider the cities you mentioned.

A monthly fee (typically around $5-20/mo) is added on to the payment.

.#10 CONTRACT - make sure what you are doing STR is listed in the contract - typically in the addendum section.   

We've worked with local banks and been able to finance the three we own without any issues.I don't necessarily know if it's "beginner" investor friendly but you'll learn everything you need in the bootcamp which is the gold standardWe get loans with 3-7 year balloons and 25 year amortization typically

Quote from @Devin James: In one of our development projects, the City staff asked us to remove 40 units from our concept plan.This wasn’t requested by the City Commission at a formal hearing, it was the opinion of the staff.Our original concept already proposed fewer units than the current zoning would have allowed.Here’s what erasing 40 units means:- 40 fewer homes for buyers- Over $1M in lost profit for our team- Fewer tax dollars and impact fees that could’ve benefited the City’s infrastructure & servicesWe gotta get betterEveryone wants more affordable housing, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to achieve it we never listen to the recommending bodies. we move for city approvals and work closely. the other thing we do is keep going back to the same groups over and over and over and over every month on the same agenda and make very small reductions like 2% or 4% and that reduces and beats them down eventually they accept what you want. it's just before beating a dead horse. we keep tabling until they give us something we all agree on then we go to vote. in our city in columbus we have to get recommendations but that's our strategy. we used to come out as aggressive as possible. we typically study developments in the area and keep it very similar in terms of density. we have a track record of very controversial projects and litigation and not taking no as an answer. after a year of that haha I can tell you it's not worth it. now we are more relationship based and buying the right kinds of plots of land. if the numbers don't work on the front end don't do the development. 

@Thomas FarrellRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

For a new agent to land a listing they typically over promise a seller a high price to win it and then spend money trying to find the magical buyer to purchase it.