Doing this would allow me to cut my down payments in half. 

You can make more through co-living in most markets, but still likely to be better off house hacking 1 / year and then buy out of state with your extra cash.If you want to chat strategy with someone - feel free to PM me or reach out to contact info in my bio!

I have 250 agents in my market and half of them have only sold 1-2 properties.TIP: look for a property manager first.

And then half the time it can't be done within the system.

The THING they seem to not be taking into account is that the sponsor is responsible for one half of any losses.  

But I would charge the extra 3% to cover my costs.

After the "chunk" goes in, it has gone down by about six-and-a-half dollars.Now, remember - this is early in the mortgage repayment period.

did half the flip work, sold with new walls and new electric/plumbing.

At this stage you're probably better off investing that extra money into your primary business activity.What part of CA are you in?

I can definitely enter other markets, it's just gonna take some extra digging and research to find the good ones to work with.