I am just curious if you posted the question out of curiosity or if you are running into a true problem getting the letter.

Out of curiosity, I will give my engineer a call and see about that verbal recommendation.

Just out of curiosity, which complex is your studio in?

Currently, I am managing both properties on my own due to having a bad experience with a property manager many years ago, so I will definitely have to take professional management fees into account if I do end up investing outside of California.Out of curiosity...

You move forward paying the amount that has accrued from the month/amount that the landlord was trying to evict you on.

But just out of curiosity, what is all that I would expect to bring to a lender to get "pre-approved" on the spot (if it does take a simple conversation, or does this process take some time?) 

In 2 years the larger loan will be paid and will free up $1200 in payments.I didn't want to accrue 7-10k in fees and a higher rate.

Out of curiosity, what would you do in my situation with having a FT job and most worthwhile deals usually sold on MLS within a few days of posting.

So currently every year I accrue "losses" on the rentals, which carry forward to protect future earnings (whenever the rents get large enough that they aren't defrayed by operating costs and depreciation), but that is only protecting future REI income and it's being devalued every year by inflation.

My curiosity was peaked, the listings on the MLS seemed to further support what he said, and census data indicated that the population decline that occurred there is likely over with efforts underway to revitalize that market so I reached out on here to try to learn more.