Since you can’t do a formal inspection, a detailed contractor walk-through and phased renovation estimate are key.Have you considered checking city records for past permits to uncover any unaddressed issues?

We have become good at it, by simply issue a 3 day letter to pay rent or quit.

The issue there is the current prices and CA laws - for the past year I've been struggling to find a property that's somewhat turnkey and that would at least break even...

Based on a quick answer from Perplexity it seems like there would be no issue with you buying the home and collecting passive income, but you may not be allowed to manage it yourself since that is considered active work.

However, for major issues, STR insurance ensures you're fully covered.

If it is only one flip for now, I suggest you find a CPA just to advise you on State filing requirements, ensure you are claiming all write-offs and issuing 1099s, etc.

The app had its own issues.

However if you are doing it with a conventional loan, you will definitely run into underwriting issues if that is noted on the appraisal. 

I have not every purchased property in Canada, but my wife is Canadian and I've seen some of the issues her family has had to deal with.  

There i a bit of research that needs to be completed early on in order to get a good judgement on the feasibility of this; from there, the "Official" way to ensure you could pursue this would be to request a "Zoning Opinion Letter" to receive an Official decision from the Department of Zoning in order to ensure this will not cause any issues during your permit review.