I don't think anyone goes to CA to invest, but a lot of residents invest local to keep the home-field advantage which is a valid point..

Several options you can explore to get the down payment capital: Solo401k; HELOC on personal residence or from equity of the SFR; Cash Value Life Insurance Policy; Business Credit; Private Lenders, to name a few.

Talk to residents, potential buyers and renters to see what their thoughts are regarding home values in the areas. 

Here is some info: SF STR FAQAssuming the info is up-to-date, it must be your permanent residence (you must live at the property for a minimum 275 days a year), you can rent unhosted a max of 90 nights a year, you need a business license, and you need to pay the city $925 for a STR certificate.

In 2022 I also sold my money pot personal residences for $961,000 and purchased it for $154,000 in 1999. $500,000 was tax free due to being married.  

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment in The Villages.

And like you say some people are more in the dark end of the spectrum when they run their business.

There's a few different ways to focus on a lower rate such as with house hacking and making the investment your primary residence, requesting a significant closing credit from the sellers for standard rate buy-downs (which I've had great success with recently), or utilizing lenders who offer short term rate lowering solutions such as 2-1 rate buy downs (again, ideally paid for by the sellers).

If you qualify, you could close on the loan in days.Home 2 could be an option for a fix-and-flip as well, but you would have to have another residence because these types of loans do not allow owner occupancy.

They do require these to be done on Primary Residence, and they probably do have a credit component, but may not have an income component to underwriting.