I really don't have the $23k down payment I'd need for a DSCR, and Texas wont let me HELOC the equity out of my other rentals. 

But, the self-sufficiency test for FHA loans can be really difficult in SF, meaning that the market rent from units you will not occupy must be sufficient to pay for the mortgage payment. 

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.

Sure, because when you take rent payments out of the equation you can focus on the tenant landlord relationship and providing the best experience for the tenant.All the best!

To make a long story short, they are no longer able to make payments on the property and are in danger of losing it.I have a rental property in Southern California that I currently own whose value if I sell should cover the outstanding loan balance on the farm.

I am leaning towards that you should house hack if you're monthly payment and accounting for capex/opex/reserves make sense.

Any one of us could give you our two cents on the math of it, but only you can decide if it makes sense based on what your specific goals are. personally, i paid points on my house because my goal was lowest possible monthly payment.

-Interest-only payments, which help manage cash flow during the renovation.

You can allocate those proceeds any way you want - as equal down payments or buy one for cash and others with loans - It doesn't matter a bit as long as you use all of the cash and purchase at least as much as you sell. 

However, finding properties that would cash flow with a 20-25% down payment on 400k property has been challenging.