My wife and I are 28  year olds, living in Southern California and we are starting to create our financial freedom portfolio in real estate.  

It is hard to get started and even more complicated if you begin as a passive investor looking for a turnkey opportunity hundreds of miles from where you live.

While I know I can start a business making around $7k a month, my immediate goal is to house hack, and my concern is about qualifying for an FHA loan.Any insights you have on this would be greatly appreciated!

The security deposit is for damages , tell them no and start the eviction process

If you subsequently purchased a property for 200k, would you count gains/losses against the 50k you now put in or against the 25k you started with as that’s what you’re actually out of pocket, depending on how you look at it.I hope I worded that clearly 

I first got started with real estate by buying a 3-flat on a whim 5 years ago and now I am back for more.Happy to meet everyone!

No General Contractor wants to do a remodel with the residents still living there....they will charge you more (they probably will not show it, but the prices will be higher because of the huge PITA factor and increased liability)I would wait until you have completely moved out and then just give them the house empty and ready to roll.....But you can get a Scope Of Work going and start getting bids...even plans and permits if you're going that far...

This starts early on with preventing what could potentially go wrong by attracting an awesome tenant and looking at what vulnerabilites currently exist in your property.  

I've been investing in real estate with my wife since 2017, when we started with JV deals and small flips.

Ask an investor to tell you their buy & hold or flip economic model and they start stuttering.