Restoration contractors deal with insurance losses daily, may already have a relationship with your adjuster, and will submit a proposal for the cost they need to have the work completed to "pre-loss condition" and your standards.

Due to the new restrictions on HELOC loans of not being able to deduct the interest paid, do they make sense to open? 

So if anyone has a recommendation on a bank they use or one that may fit some/most of those standards, please let me know.

If you go with standard capacity mini splits, I would keep the cadet heaters as auxiliary heat.

A standard inspection should cost around $500-600, investor reports should be around half that cost.Make sure you only do inspections on something you’re serious about buying otherwise costs add up real quick.

Which  means the valuation has be based on standards of appraisers.

Inexpensive by Bay Area standards but one could certainly buy 2 homes in another state. 

@Ryan Pilioglas here it will probably take thousands of dollars of marketing and finding the buyers with the lowest standards who still buy things off MLS as well as off market and a ton of time.

Could be a bit less or more too; just depends on local standards and practices.

With rent at $800, expenses at 50% ($400), deduct the cash flow you are buying with your 40K ($330) and your positive cash flow produced by the property itself is only  $70/month.