We did get much lower costs when we changed to minisplits but the initial cost is high.

Get a handful together to start, so you have some cash to initiate the class action.

If you kept the property, and accumulated the CF/yr, it would take you 25 years to get that same equity that's sitting, frozen in your property.Also, if you cashed out and used that same equity as a DP on different RE, at 20% DP, that equity would buy you $2M in PV, not just $700k,...and, I'd be willing to bet, you could find new RE that would have a yearly CF well over $20k/year.On top of that (remembering my initial statement above), any appreciation applied would be applied to $2M, not just $700k. 

The best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and ensure your property meets them before your initial inspection.

But having that initial plan- hell, even a scribbled outline on a napkin; will give you something to pivot from when the market throws a curveball.

Typically, the initial upfront for the rehab is either cash or a high interest loan (hard money or private). 

Our initial plan is to house hack a quadplex somewhere in Orange County.

@Sean Gallagher - My initial reaction is that if you're thinking about a property manager to help oversee the daily operations you're probably at a point where you need to get one.

In my initial contact the first deal representative she  mentioned it’s because I am not looking off market.

By spreading the investment horizon across decades, this initiative builds resilience into its model.