Since I am an hour from the area and work and have family commitments I cannot just jump in my car and check out properties when one becomes available.

All of the above is a personal opinion so please make sure to do your hw before committing to a rental property.

-Committed suicide (thank goodness, not in the house!

Two years ago I committed myself to learn real estate investing and the first big hurdle I had to cross was figuring out how to analyze deals.

Doing your first flip and visiting the job site several times a week is hard enough, but you've multiplied your problems by doing this from 3,000 miles away.I'm also concerned that you did not have a good/realistic idea of the rehab costs before you made your offer and committed to buying the property.

If I were committed to getting started in the Bay Area, I might buy a foreclosure at as low a price as possible and renovate it with a FHA 203k loan. 

Side note on something you mentioned above - from your experience, are there drawbacks to allowing a lease to go m2m after the first year, other than the obvious lack of longer-term commitment? 

Commitment to taking action is #1.

Only if you want to commit fraud.  

By addressing all of the issues upfront it helps you build credibility and trust, making investors more likely to invest with you when you have a deal.Step 3: Be CreativeSyndicators who are creative in their approach to investors are more likely to get commitments and participation than those who aren’t.