It is difficult to find deals less than 200k before rehab.

I also understand being an unqualified investor may make acquiring quality commercial financing more difficult.

Did your lack of experience make things more difficult for you to obtain financing for your 1st deal on the 16 unit?

She and I are both new to the program and trying to get info out of the local HAS is proving to be difficult. 

Here is the story:The homeowners had a difficult 2011 when they both lost their jobs and their property's value plummeted by 65%.

That value is notoriously difficult to determine, and you won't realize it until you sell.I'd encourage you to think of the property's value, and your equity in the property as the "icing on the cake" while analyzing rental properties, and to underwrite your investments to the "Cash on Cash ROI" metric.

And, if you're looking at a FL LLC your information is always available to the public anyway without a bit of machination so it's going to be difficult to shelter your identity that way anyway.  

Which I have heard is quite difficult.

Although the market can be lucrative, finding good deals in these areas has been increasingly difficult. 

Just let me know if I can be of any assistance.Hi @BillManassero, based on my research so far, the Southern California is pretty expensive and difficult to get started in, so I'm heavily learning towards to out-of-state investing.