We are about 1/2 way done my personal residence.

That consists of buying a single family home with some form of separate living space to rent out as a STR and help offset living expenses.The DownsideLenders Calculate STR/MTR Rental Income Differently- From a lender's perspective, any rental income received on a term less than 12 months is NOT calculated the same way a traditional long term rental is.

As long as there was no agent already involved and thus cutting them out, then should be good. 

The problem here is it takes 6-8 weeks to close, and in the LA competitive market, that is too long to be competitive with other bids.

Long time listener of Bigger Pockets and this question is HAUNTING me so I jumped on here.

But now you are not talking about real estate as an investment, but rather a vehicle which you are building a business around.And lastly, we are still at historically high prices.  

You're going to win way more often than not if you stick to real estate for the long haul.

There was a time, briefly (a few years), about a decade ago when some prime solar farm site owners signed favorable LTLs (Long Term Leases.)

If the seller is now asking to be able to complete the home inspection, without first fixing the gas leak, I again don't have any issue with that as long as its inside your inspection period and you have the credit etc in writing at this point. 

I also heard you can by two second homes with the 10% down loan in the same area, so long as the homes are different in some way.