If it sounds too good to be true, then make sure that you take the necessary steps to ensure your own safety.

Quote from @Jonathan Greene: Quote from @James Hamling: Thing is @Jonathan Greene, your message, as true as it may be, comes across to a whole generation like that of the person giving away apples and tooth brushes for Halloween..... 

Have you ever been totally open and honest with a seller or agent and tell them you have no intention of buying the property and don't know the true buyer when you offer and won't tell them the price the true buyer will pay?

Congrats - do you ever think you'll expand a buy a true standalone STR of just happy with this current situation?

I always got the impression that he had a bad criminal record or never got his high school diploma/ GED equivalent or some other issue was preventing him from getting a license, because he was basically just brokering without a license but calling it consulting (I don't know any of that to be true for the record, that was just the impression that I got from his comments and might explain why he used a fake name?). 

As mentioned in the other post, deciding what your true goal is as well will help you choose a market.

., Both are good options, and the true answer is which properties become available to you and which strategy best fits the properties you can find. 

Tell us some more about the house hack is it a true multi family or are you just rocking with roomates? 

For a lot of things you can just look up material costs and assume the same for labor. 50% material and 50% labor holds roughly true for the entire project, at least for me here in Milwaukee, your labor cost will probably be higher in the Bay Area.100-125k spread would be tight, even for me here in Milwaukee.

At a bare bones minimum, the letter confirms the start/end dates of the lease, monthly rent, paid-through date, absence of any prepaid rent other than the current month, and security deposit amount.Better, it will include statements there are no unresolved claims or disputes or repair issues with the current landlord, and no verbal or written side agreements.Better yet, it will include a copy of the tenant's lease, and a confirmation the lease is a true and correct copy with no amendments.