The plan for that is either rent out my room or convert it to a sober living facility.

So it qualifies for 1031 treatment. 

I can't imagine painting a house for $500... even in Ga, where the cost of living is considerably lower than in Ca.

You won't be able to circumvent the STR rules in LA unless you live in the primary where the ADU is I don't think.

Hey everyone, my name is John Suschak and I am new to the commercial real estate world looking to find a team of great people where I can use my experience in military and civilian project and operations management to enrich the lives of those around me. 

If buying as an investment and not planning to live there, different story.As far as taking out a LOC I would make sure you take it out in the LLC or entity you plan to use to purchase the property with so you have some business credit seasoning under your belt.

I was considering doing an FHA loan as I could live in it for a year.

I live in Michigan.

If you're asking because it's going to be your first couple of problems, why not be the first couple of properties in the area where you live so I'm comfortable with and then boom then expand to another territory?

I guess I'll start by sharing a bit of myself and how I got here.A few years ago, I saw a listing for a 4 plex in a nice part of a city in the CA Bay Area and thought, that would be so great if I could live there and collect rent to help pay off the mortgage (it was even listed for a reasonable price, though I'm sure there was a bidding war for the final sales price).