I am living in California and I’m currently looking to potentially form a team there.  

Take the case for land - when we first started working in this market lots were going for $15k and this is what we budget for in our pro formas. 

Do want to form a partnership or an LLC or an LLC with a business partner?

We have internal data on delinquency rates by region, cash on cash returns, as well as an internal software system that projects pro forma’s based on rental comps, maintenance costs, rehab costs, and CapEx costs… the major challenges are eviction costs and non paying tenants.

If they are not under a single lease it is considered a "rooming house"...which is probably not permitted but check your zoning here.The Zoning Code says a rooming house "contains 3 or more rooming units occupied...as a primary residence by individuals who, even though they do share common areas and facilities, do not form a single housekeeping unit and do not provide compensation under a single lease for occupancy of the facility"Look at pages 47 and 80 of the PDF.

So, basic lesson is dont rely on Zillow even for a pro forma.

You need to put together a quality pro forma and sell yourself to local banks until you find one that believes in you.  

I also was expecting short term (3 to 5 years) appreciation of ~8%, but used 4% in my pro forma. 

I figure I need to understand more about the market and what types of properties are doing best where to form a clearer picture about what my investment strategy might be.

If you're trying to buy on-market deals, then you either need to form a partnership where you're partner is putting capital on the table, or you need to get connected with a hard money lender to fund your deal.