My experience is that condo associations typically charge so much in monthly HOA fees that any potential investment income gets eaten up by that fee.

Legally they can't be shopping for a quote for you but they can definitely share a few contacts, especially if their past clients had good experience with these specialists.

@Chris Marette, take this with a grain of salt, because the only times I appealed appraisals were before COVID.In my experience, if you stay with the same lender and you get a second appraisal, the best I got was an average of the two appraisals.  

Does anyone have experience with permitting with the city?

We also have had a longer runway to build out a product that is robust for a smooth experience while having a large enough support team around you to ensure you are quickly helped. 

Would you say the negotiating part is something learnt with experience?

I only deal with small multifamily buy and hold but looking to expand my experiences and knowledge. 

I do think your experience is relevant to this thread.  

But I'm sorry to say that I lack experience with that in a very damp climate like Northern California's coast. 

I had a feeling that this might be an issue, but as a newbie sometimes it makes more sense when you hear it from someone with experience.