We have a single-family residence we own and have lived in for a number of years.

I've also assumed VA loans where little cash was used (seller had low/no equity).

There are those on YouTube who are very close to violating the law, if not dancing all over the line.In my opinion, the real problems originate when the buyer isn't clearly disclosing the risks to the seller, or violates the Consumer Protection ACT, or doesn't have enough capital to make the payments, or does equity stripping, (some equity stripping is legal, some is not)  12 U.S. 

Sounds like somebody had Seller's remorse or a disgruntled student or someone who had equity in a deal that went south.

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

Just to present an alternative point of view regarding California residents investing in STRs, I'd say the gambit still works and works well.For one thing, you still get to use the Section 263(a) tangible property regulations' de minimis rules, which probably mean you can immediately expense most of the furniture and fixtures in your STR.For another thing, while for your California return you won't be able to use bonus or accelerated depreciation for the personal property, you will still use shorter 5-year and 7-year lives for maybe 25% of the improvements.But the big thing: The federal tax bill is far, far bigger.

The service providers RTR referred me to were happy to work with me even though I don’t have a US residence.

would you still create the single LLCs in OH (the state where the flip is in) or open one in my state of residence and JV with the local LLC ?  

If you put less than 5% down, your return on equity is likely sky-high.

However, the depreciation claimed while the property was a rental must be accounted for upon the future sale of the personal residence, which could increase your capital gains tax liability.The adjusted basis of the property (original cost minus depreciation) will be used to calculate gains or losses at the time of sale.