I want to refi and pull some of that equity out ($200-$250k) so I can keep growing my portfolio but I'm not sure how to approach it as it would obliterate the cash flow I currently have, and in the current market I won't be able to make up for it with additional properties as they would also have minimal cash flow.

Without having much info, I would need to know the financial situation of the 'close family' to determine a best approach.

While I appreciate that & don't want to push them out, they are well below market rate & the unit is a disgusting mess, approaching hoarder status.

Yes it costs money for the coaching, but the typical investor would take decades of trial and error of other investing techniques and would probably never arrive a systematic way of approaching investing for cashflow as is created with the income snowball. 

Ourcurrent approach involves identifying possible contact information for thelisted owners and calling multiple numbers, but this process is time-consumingand yields limited results.

My approach is to slow my decision making on big moves given the market timing.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

I’d love to hear more about how you approach finding these under-$2M properties and what strategies you’re implementing for operations optimization.

I know my first question if someone was trying to approach me is to ask them for credentials, experience, etc...

I see posts on CA insurance that appear to be ignorant to both the past method used to set insurance prices as well as the approach the current commissioner is advocating.The current policy had insurers set rates based on past losses.