Do you need a certain amount of cash flow, are renovations required, how many bedrooms, etc4)who’s your ideal tenant, if you’re renting out?

As a result, meeting the requirements to be considered  a real estate professional may proved to be difficult. 

If the city is ok with STR's, I then check to see what permits are required for STR operation.

I have a full time job that pays around 170k excluding stock options (which I would like to retain as a separate investment for now but I am open to use that for real estate if required).

Ie a property with 0 repairs required, then a house with small repairs, then a full remodel flip  that included adding and permitting new bathrooms, removal of walls, doors, windows etc etc. 

If the property is tenant occupied, you should require your tenants to have renters policies and lastly and just as important as the insurance you obtain is knowing all vendors you rely upon to perform work at the property and on your behalf are properly insured.

However, these strategies require careful financial analysis and planning to ensure that you can obtain sufficient cash flow to cover your expenses and debts Isn't it 7.5?

Creditors and lenders are not required by law to report to credit bureaus.

I would base this on your numbers, not sellers (seller financials are one of the biggest jokes of this industry), and your return requirements.

You'll likely want to start with reviewing the requirements under Prop 19 for retention of the base assessed value when adding a child to title, and also look up the rules for a basis step-up at death.