If possible try to stay out of the city of LA, Santa Monica, Venice since they have the most restrictive form of rent control.

. - also, make sure they are all paid Security Deposits - verify the correct amounts and get an idea of the work that was recently done on the property HOA Documents - if it's governed by an HOA, you need to review the declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions or the CC&RsVerify everything else not includedPhysical InspectionHow to find an inspector?

These buyers need to "juice" the potential rent by obtaining additional revenue through utilization of a purchase option, marketing the property to buyers unable to qualify for a mortgage but having and willing to pay extra each month above market rent to lock in a purchase price or believe that they are "building equity".The SAFE Act and the CFPB have placed some restrictions on these lease option agreements, so a much more careful following of agency regulations has to be observed by real estate investors doing these transactions.  

I stay away from areas that are restrictive like Historic Districts and overly zealous HOAs.

Since these are highly localized and very state specific I can't speak about each one but sometimes they do have restrictions on buying a 2nd property or a multi-family property.  

Thanks for the replies, and I'm looking forward to getting to know the BP community.The VA, like FHA and other programs do have many restrictions. 

Chinese buyers specifically had flooded the Bay Area markets from around 2012-2018 (when China began imposing capital controls limiting how much money Chinese citizens could invest abroad).

In these cases, when the borrower defaults on the mortgages and is compelled to sell the property for less than what is owed on the loan, the lender will accept the sales price as full repayment for the defaulted loan, no matter the amount.Unlike a foreclosure, a short sale often does not impose any additional financial or legal liability on a borrower in default once the sale has closed.

The new laws also relaxed parking restrictions, setback easements, approval times and added ADU potential for multi-family properties.

Many restrict the types of transactions you can do.