Good long term tenants get warnings, new tenants you drop the hammer when they are in violation since they have earned no points yet.Chances are you will need to evict, you use the HOA notices as evidence of violation, and apply the fines.   

Casey, private money is your easiest way to gain momentum, much easier than refinancing a whole package, everything else I have mentioned will aid and compound, but it takes time.If you pay someone in your family 6% on their money you should be able to earn repay a down payment in 2-3 years with interest.

“We just put that in because you probably won’t choke on them.”Get your realtor to earn the commission and field offers or reject repairs.

You will have many more opportunities to earn money that way.

I figure if we did, they would make sure we earn it. 

(keep in mind your cash has the ability to earn a return anywhere other than being buried in the property in question) I would venture to guess that the majority of investors buying properties valued above 100K with cash (no mortgage) are not making a single dime generated by the property itself.

(Disclaimer: I'm definitely anewbie, so sorry if this question is elementary) I've done some reading about using creative financing, however I recently spoke with a loan officer about different ways that I could get a specific deal financed and her told me that it is illegal to get any financial assistance for your down payment (i.e. if you're going to get a mortgage on a property 100% of the down payment has to be your own money that got earned and cannot be money that was gifted or borrowed).Can anyone validate this?

I convinced myself that having too much on hand and paying a penalty on the earnings was a very small risk since we have 3 kids and I am able to move funds between accounts without a penalty.  1 out of the group may not go but that means 2 and 3 will be sufficiently funded. 

As price went up my occupancy rate dropped slightly but I'm still earning more now than before and with better quality renters.Entire property rentals need at least 10% of the year to breathe for repairs/updates if you want to continue to operate at a high level and offer a quality product.My current occupancy rate as of August 2017 is 78% with $20k net income after all expenses and mortgage paid. 

If you live in and earn income in CA, you are "doing business in CA" and the $800/yr fee applies, regardless of which state the LLC is formed in.