I am grateful and lucky to be one of the few who survived the COVID-19 , I believe if i wanted a gig in the midwest or south , I wont have much of a problem finding one.

We ultimately waste time and money and we create issues we must resolve.Read these questions and consider your first thought compared to the answer given. - want more money?

I plan to ultimately own a flip-and-hold business. 

Start by reading the Ultimate Real Estate Investing Guide: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/ultimate-real-estate-investing-guide/introduction 2.

Ultimately, our short term would be to rent it while having the option for my wife to live in the house while she is in school.I've done research into LA and Anaheim and the RTV doesn't seem very favorable to me even though everything else looks good such as economic, population, and job growth. 

I've recently purchased a house that I intend to renovate and then rent but am having a hard time finding contractors willing to work with me once I mention that the ultimate goal is to rent this property. 

A house listed for $250k and $5k in buyer credit is ultimately a $245k sale. 

The lender may be more likely to extend if they feel like extending will make the ultimate repayment more likely. 

Lol lol For buy and hold see the business model paper off my profile 1st paragraph called bulletproof rental portfolio.A deal calculator is useless if you don't have a business strategy.After 40 some by and holds not even a calculator is needed it's mental math and yes revolves around the approximate 1% rule or whatever represents a good deal in your area.Like I said too much emphasis is made on complicated spreadsheets that account for every expense under the world and that ultimately kill good deals.

Start by reading the Ultimate Real Estate Investing Guide: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/ultimate-real-estate-investing-guide/introduction 2.