I understand that it'll be hard for anyone to give me any exact numbers without full architectural plans.

Feeding from the Question2.. how do you know if a city is a strong rental market?

My goal was to buy single family homes in distressed properties ( short sales, or NOD leads by calling home owners and seeing if they want to sell before they go into foreclosure)  in a growing population area with strong job growth and buy, add value , and rent them out for tiny bits of cashflow and wait for appreciation. 2 main questions I have at the moment. 1) How did you pick your market to buy your first investment? 

You need to have a really strong operating agreement.

All was not rosy though, as the property did not cash flow even with the strong rent.

The property didn't cash flow even with strong rent.

I can get all the architecture done and have a full quantity takeoff of the project ready for them to bid on.Yea I know some people who will sign a permit for a fee.

Deals seem to be hard to find so i worry I can't find more places to equal that cash flow but fear when we try to sell, the market won't be as strong.

Due to this, I want to make sure that the personal guarantee is strong enough.In addition, from the information I’ve been able to gather from my own research over the last 2 months on Californian lending laws (it is very difficult to sift though and find relevant information on the topic), above 10% violates the usury laws unless I have a CFL or a broker facilitate the note.

Then right around RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) time use the monies I've accumulated and turn the annuity into lifetime income for my wife and I as a strong supplement of income.