I am out of LA for most of the summer (it's when I travel to my colder climate markets and do repairs/flips), but come fall, I'll be rolling strong!

I doubt that you have water collecting in the corner with freezing, lifting and shifting block, like we can have in the colder climates.

I was hoping someone who has been in this market longer and is more experienced than I could give some insight on the current market climate here.Is my best bet to start trying to find deals from off market opportunities by driving for dollars and yellow letter type campaigns?

Part of that was the climate we were in (i.e. during the bust) but part of it was lack of experience and lack of a historical model.5 or 6 years later these same banks have seen me grow from 4 or 5 houses to 32.

In the current climate these type of loans are tough to find.

Really depends on what kind of climate you want also.

Some other qualitative factors include weather or climate impacting maintenance costs - pipes freezing in northern climates, hail storms in Dallas, flooding in Houston, Air Conditioners in Phoenix. 

Because the political climate is unstable, to say the least. 

After getting out alive (and with all my equity) we did some research and decided that San Antonio would provide a great climate for rehabbing.

Being creative and efficient in how the structures are built can have the numbers looking pretty good depending on your approach.The climate of the city as far as its tenant protections are concerned aren't likely to change and the cost of construction is equally unlikely to dip too much.