I understood what to look for in Area D....F types, but how can I classify Area C or B or A ?

Desert Hot Springs spans the gamut from B areas, to some pretty rough C- or even D areas.  

***Only exception is if an owner has plan & funds to reposition Class D to Class C or higher.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/776/topics/960183-what-they-dont-tell-you-about-cheap-rental-properties?

Also, there has been and continues to be tons of development and aggressive growth in the downtown corridor where we focus our strategy.

It's just too much money to bet on other people's competence.

That can be in A, B, C or D areas.  

A lot of RE investors piled on debt without cashflow to suffice the debt obligation in order to bet on huge appreciation, which is gambling.

The markets I am left to find deals are in concord, richmond and oakland in C- or D class neighborhoods, which I would not feel safe living in. 

In Burlington city NJ a Cetificate of resgistration application needs to be turned in for every tenant turn over. there is a change of occupancy fee that is $100 or $75 if a criminal screening report is turned in.Unfortunately my prospective tenant that has some history. 2 Felonies (Fireworks and coke possession) from 13yrs ago that were dismissed but do not state that in the report. in the past they accepted the CoR application and just scheduled an inspection right away, i don't know if they dug into the tenants background.i know the prospective tenant personally, i know where he works and the people he works for.

My realtor I'm working says that ARV's in that area for a 3/2 1500sf-ish property would be safe to bet on around $100k.