As part of his investment of capital into scaling, he hired a marketing firm specializing in SEO, SEM, social media, direct email, etc.  

You'll get a feel for the age of the neighborhoods, the vitality of the commercial buildings, the ease of location, the closeness to jobs.The markets you're describing are more linear, and usually have lower capital appreciation.

Your best bet since your working on your capital are going to be to use low money down hard-money lender.

As noted above, a cash deal with all capital liquid in an account today is going to be taken much more seriously than a financed deal or a syndicated deal.  10% EM hard at contract signing and a 45 day close with no extensions will be taken more seriously than 3% EM hard after 30 days, with a 60 day close and 2x 30 day extensions.  

Your closing statement should have the purchase price and you add any capitalized costs.   

If someone is paying cash or putting down 50%, it would "cash flow" better - there are investors in the Bay Area that have a lot of capital, not usually a first time investor that pay cash.

There is a lot of these out there, I keep looking for a way to make them "work" but certainly can risk what little capital I have on a hope :)

It feels like with the recent investment of venture capital and their sudden growth, the system has stopped improving.  

I joined this forum to connect with others, learn from those who’ve been in my shoes, and maybe even find people to partner with in the future.If you’ve got any tips, especially around raising capital or structuring your first deal, I’d love to hear them!

Seen that play a few times.. this whole sub to being taught to under capitalized or starter investors who don't know what they don't know and learn this on line is just so very dangerous.