Engelo turned me on to Rocket Fuel I bet you like that one..

Its just knowing which ones to use to get what you want and what the pro's and con's are between each product given the goals you're trying to accomplish.A lot of bankers and independents in socal broker to TCF like Chris mentions above.I've had good experience getting rental income to be used in similar context to the above mentioned.The formula is simple for rentals that dont yet show up on your tax return its 75% of gross income minus PITIA (principal/interest/taxes/insurance/assessments) to arrive at your net income figure that will either be added to your income column if its positive or a liability to be qualified for if its negative.In cases where you just want to do a cash out refinance loan you could use 1 year tax program with Freddie Mac to avoid having to average both your 2015 and 2014 which causes more paperwork and more things for an underwriter to sift through and demand verifications and documentation on.The nice part about using a 1 year tax program for self employment or realtor income (in your case) is that since there is only 1 year tax for your self employment we only need to use 1 year tax income on your rentals  as well which is a little known secret in the residential conventional lending world.This is great when you have a great 2015 or past return but your 2014 or 2 year ago return was not as good.

So not required if you find good deals and people.I got my degree in econ and minor in finance at SFSU and met a lot of great people - but I bet you would meet a lot of even more important and meaningful connections at Berkeley, especially with your networking interest, if you chose to do so.

Now this seems like a better bet for a buy and hold.If that adage is true its not when you sell its when you buy.

No matter what you decide it may take longer than a month to find a deal.I also would caution against betting on a downturn in the market.

Good luck with the transaction.This is your best bet.

Always bet contrarian and buy.

Your best bet will probably a local portfolio lender.Remember they may require the property to have 6-12 months of seasoning, so if needed you could get a commercial LOC in the interim.

I bet close, if not there

Secured line of credit still may be your best bet though, less risk and while you'll pay a little more in interest (~3-4%) you won't have many timelines working against you.