I have an IT career, but like some others, I'm looking at economics these days and realizing that I need to make a change to get to where I want to be. 

After doing it for 7 months I realized that the problem wasn't my approach or the letter itself it was more the competition in my market.

However, the seller decided to hold off on accepting my offer since the property had only been on the market for 7 days and they wanted to entertain other offers.This experience made me realize the importance of paying attention to the number of days a property has been on the market.

What they tend to realize after the fact though is the higher payments are now mandatory and the monthly cashflow is cut so that you're mainly relying on equity which although likely isn't always guaranteed. 

Realize you are likely going to use CA Fair Plan (due to fire risk) and that is not cheap.  

Focus your attention on creating equity that can be realized through a sale, that's the winning formula.

I realize residential financing doesn't currently allow for this and pulling money out down the road could be more complex or strictly in the commercial lending realm.Any and all feedback is appreciated!

This is why I got into note investing - I spent 20+ years in commercial and residential real estate - then for my own portfolio looked at tax liens and realized there is not much creativity that can be had there, but if you have a creative math mind there is so much you can do with notes to be creative and as you mention create income, or wealth building. 

I'd be direct, saying I don't put up with any BS, and I see a lot of BS on his record, recent BS, tell me about this, is this just you being you or are you turning a page realizing poor choices lead to poor results and a poor life.

I realize down the road letting if I am trying to simply pay mortgages off the ROE  is no longer a useful gauge.