This is a relationship-based business.

I figure regardless of where they are in their lease, I want to own the building based on the location alone.

Andy Sirkin, based in San Francisco but supposedly has done some in Las Angeles. 

Sounds like you are going with a Fannie/Freddie type loan based on the cap of 2%.  

To start your journey, I recommend focusing on building your network by joining meetups and engaging in online forums, while narrowing down your first investment based on your budget, market, and goals.

They will base their DSCR calculation on the market rent 1007.

ABL, which is the basis for HML/fix and flip lending, will have different criteria and different focuses than multi-year loans based on cashflow and borrower credit score (long term mortgages).

Are they commission based, flat fee?

I am local to Los Angeles - based in Orange County.A bit about me: I’m a civil engineer by profession with experience in local government.

I paid for the subscription for a few months and drew my own custom Google maps areas and color coded them red/yellow/green based on a "grade" I felt came from a few metrics like crime/average household income/etcI also really like realtors dot com new maps, if you search for an address and click on the map and then go to the top left and choose the Value slider it will give you a nice color coded map of which areas of a neighborhood are higher valued.