I am licensed RE agent in California but will be moving to Northwest soon - I need an investor friendly agent to work with Oregon and Washington.

Cash flow is king in other class of properties and Class A is not one of them.

For instance, an interest only loan 10% or more in California should be done through a broker to avoid running afoul of state law and DRE compliance.- Make sure you are getting a good Lender Title Insurance to secure your lien.  125% ALTA policies with no Western Regional Exceptions (also known as 2006 Extended Policy Coverage) are great for private bennies in California, and that may also be true of New York. 

we are in the Southern California área and thinking in putting either artificial turf or natural sod grass( the one is already grown) in the frontyard , it’s arpund 312 sf and estimates are like 440 dlls natural sod grass and 3400 dlls artificial turf with 0% financing options ( about 258 dlls monthly payments for a year)... some advise based on your experience(how about children’s, pets , maintenance, water bills, heat etc) and info you would know also... thanks blessings!!

Go onto GoSection8.com in your area and advertise the unit for rent.....they will call you very quickly.......screen the tenants carefully...you want to advertise a little above market rate because Section8 may or may not give you market rate but it's best to start a little high and have them tell you that they will pay you a little lower amount than to start low and have them go even lower on you.....I have section 8 rentals in Ohio and California.

So, let's get a discussion going, help me out: What kind of ARVs do you guys find in your experience (we find 70% very common in CA), how are you guys getting these properties financed?

Ultimately, it's going to depend on your investment goals and strategy.For example, if I'm working with someone in the Sacramento market, it's probably going to be a Bay Area investor who'd like to invest in a market with good appreciation and rent growth, but is still located in California, and is lower priced than Bay Area where most deals don't make sense on paper... too pricey.But if it's Phoenix, Scottsdale or Tempe we're talking about, it might be someone looking to AirBnb / VRBO a small condo in a hot part of town.

Be very careful how you advertise, especially in California.

we do own few houses in fresno,CA area. we would like to pull the equity out through HELOC for other investment.

Cash will be king!