Any suggestion on MHP funds that have long proven track records? 

Many Realtors will suggest purchasing a property using a FHA Loan, to reduce your out of pocket money.

Any suggestions on that?

In fact, invest outside Calif for sure.I suggest you continue to rent and buy an investment property first.

I would suggest not finding a stand in.

Short of coming here and meeting face to face with them and come to a couple local REIA events to discuss, for those who are remote I would suggest getting into some of the NE Ohio REIA facebook groups to get some advice from locals.   

Any recommendations or suggestions on how to navigate this?

However, just to set expectations, they most likely won’t make any changes unless there’s a clear error in the valuation.That said, since the $1,000 increase works out to about $83 per month, I’d suggest checking what the market rents are in your area.

@Dominic Holt , I am happy to review your scenario and suggest changes that could improve your property.

Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but he does have two evictions on his record already so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.Thanks @Kathleen Leary for your suggestion for the lease.