You get to take depreciation on an appreciating asset, you can even get tax credits for various projects and actions which depending the level your at equals a pay-day. 

I believe it depends on the lenders funding source.  

You’ll want to check if your specific work falls under their home improvement contractor licensing, or if there are additional local permits required depending on the county.

Expect rates to be higher than "typical" financing programs - right now, I'd plan for at least 8%+ depending on the whole scenario. 

All depends on what your goals are and what market fits your game-plan/criteria 

Some carriers require limited water damage coverage depending on the age of the property and age of utilities.I would recommend at least 25% (ideally more) when possible and if you're limited to 10% you should make sure you cannot purchase another policy for a similar price.

From my research, I'm seeing $100-$150/sqft depending on complexity and material.

A home loan is made via the note with a Mortgage/DOT (depending on state) attached as the security instrument, which allows the home to serve as collateral if the note is not upheld.

Any additional mail costs $.50-$.76 depending on the size... so to prevent you from having hundreds of $.50 charges on your credit card, the default "reload" is $50 (you can set this to whatever you like in the app).Hope this helps....

Of course, with all things, the answers to all these matters will depend on the circumstances.California tends to have more laws on the books and requirements and restrictions that it can be a good idea to form a CA LLC for out of state property so that you as a CA resident are covered, and to try to have your contracts fall under the purview of CA courts.