A loan commitment letter carries more weight as it confirms lender approval, signaling a stronger ability to close.Addressing Closing Concerns: A commitment letter meaningfully reduces concerns, especially when paired with proof of equity and a track record of performance, even if on smaller deals.What Brokers Look For: Key factors are a reputable lender, clear terms in the commitment, and evidence of funds for equity and reserves.

If your realtor is listing it for free and not helping, that's not much help since leaving you to screen tenants and run through leads is like asking you to perform knee surgery, you don't know what you are doing.All rental listings should get bombarded on Zillow Rental Manager and HotPads, etc in the first week so if you have limited activity, your price is either too high or the photos are bad and the copy about the place is bad.Use something like RentSpree from screening.

The manual entry of numbers has moved to an automated model with accurate ARV, Cap Rates, etc.  

Ironically its the investors in the layered LLC's who believe they are hidden in the cloaks of secrecy and better protected who end up in  the most costly and drawn out litigation while giving the plaintiff attorneys reason to take a more thorough look under the hood.Keep your LLC ownership simple, carry appropriate insurance, make sure ever vendor you work with carries appropriate insurance and those who perform work functions most likely to lead to liability exposure list you ad additional insured (not merely certificate holder) and it should go without saying, avoid negligent conduct.

Nobody owes the affordability being a right, and globally markets perform at a much wider ratio for median income:household, however, America is very local and industry specific.

I am very happy with the performance of my portfolio - all my properties are between a 10-13% cap rate.

At the time there were limited 3 BR rentals in the neighborhood, but achieved such high rental rates the properties ended up performing better as rentals than as a for sale project.

Question is, if I have the means to put a high enough down payment on a house to be cash flow positive (assuming my expense estimates are accurate, etc.) is that something that I should do?  

If you and your husband can perform the same line of work in another state like Florida, Texas, Nevada I would move out of CA as soon as possible. 

I will answer as it relates to traditional BRRRR, in the general case there are additional options.  1) Do not perform maximum cash extract.