(We're from California as well) Everything has been extremely smooth so far and their staff has been excellent with their customer service. 

What I noticed so far is extremely high property taxes. 

First you have to face the local municipalities & will be extremely difficult to get the zoning approved. 

I also own 4 STR properties that do extremely well.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.

Personal guarantees are EXTREMELY common.

Additionally, the boots on the ground partner has to be extremely trustworthy.

It is extremely hard to find programs for 0 experience simply on the 1-4 unit side of ground up construction. 

My experience in the last 15 years is that except in the most extreme circumstances, an investor is going to need some of their own capital to make a deal fly.

Like @Pat Aboukhaled already mentioned, he’s extremely responsive and has excellent market knowledge.