I ask because if it were bought 8/22 and it just sold , thats almost 1 year . even if you did minimal improvements and had minimal carrying costs , plus real estate commissions , that doesnt sound like swift profits .This almost sounds like an ad for Brittany Scandra I am very familar with Pasadena 

I prefer the Sealy Black but Costco isn't carrying it anymore that I can see.

So do not expect appreciation to be your savior, the facts remain that this market will bounce back and will appreciate more than the Midwest, but can you carry the debt for that long until it does?

The Heloc cost me $600 a month and the duplex brings in $2,200 a month (minus $1,000 in carrying cost) and the triplex brings in $3,200 (minus $1,300 in carrying costs). 

If you are going to carry insurance there is no need for an LLC.Look for liability limits of $1-2 million per occurrence. 

Refusing showings because the agent isn’t getting paid for it is the antithesis of carrying out one’s fiduciary duty to the seller. 

I stopped carrying 99% of the time after that because I had been out of the army a dozen years already and it too close for comfort.Next was 2021, when I decided to take REI seriously.

Between all the licenses I already carry for my current business endeavors in different states, I'm not too keen on adding another set of licenses I would need to possibly study, apply for and take a test for then maintain with CE credits in an industry I'm not even sure I want to take on with any meaning volume.  

Short of asking the seller to carry the note at a lower interest or putting down a much bigger down payment - what am I missing? 

Keep in mind you have carrying costs, selling costs and taxes.