The advantage I'm trying to put together by doing this is to force the price of the property a bit lower by bringing cash, then in the refi process hopefully have the property appraised at a higher value than I purchased it for, thereby enabling me to avoid having to put down 25% and tying up the money.  

This enabled me to buy the property with cash, allowed for at 10k of repairs, and make sure all my normal bills would still get paid.  

If you commit to one and don't like it, generally it isn't a huge deal moving firms but if possible, maintain your own 3rd party database so all of your contacts/leads don't stay with the firm.  

Kind of late to the game in terms of response as I just joined BP, but I figured I may be able to provide some helpful information none the less.Speaking from the perspective of a former Boston real estate agent that specialized in rentals/income property, I'd highly advise speaking with managers or agents with good track-records at some local rental companies, mainly for 3 reasons.1) Unlike MLS for sales, no central database for rentals exists, period.

All borrowed at 0% and enabling all sorts of 'investments' and unprofitable companies to exist. 

The STR cabin performed 2x our projections and the local bank re-appraised our property enabling us to leverage a Heloc to build a 2nd cabin on the property.

When choosing the right local agent, be sure that they not only know the local market and have experience but just as important... they should already have a local network of Realtors, Investors, Wholesalers and a database of potential sellers.

Many of them are constantly looking for opportunities to expand their business.The value of your contracts can vary dramatically. are the owners locked into a term agreement or are you managing them on a month-to-month basis that enables them to walk away at any time?

For ADUs that are enabled by state law (in main building or in separate building), ADUs (http://leginfo.legislature.ca....) must not have an owner-occupancy requirement between 2020 and 2025 per SB 13 (2019) (https://leginfo.legislature.ca...).For JADUs that are enabled by state law (≤500 sq ft within the main building), they *do* have an owner occupancy requirement (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?

Building your database of people interested in your property is key to back filling it quickly when your tenant suddenly stops paying.