These still don't seem to be working properly for me.

One is a house hack. looking for advise from a CPA for proper bookkeeping and tax planning who works w/RE in CA.

You should be looking for something in the ballpark of guaranteed interest + 1%. 4) Be prepared to properly fund the account.

@Andrew Postell Few questions about proper structuring of the loan - atleast for my next deal, so that I could get the refinance right away.You create an LLC - Single Member LLC-A with just me as memberYou buy a home : Is it buying the property in my personal name ? 

But a "commercial" loan will allow you to qualify significantly easier.So if you can get prequalified for a Fannie/Freddie type of loan, then you need to read the post for Bigger Pockets I made on how to properly structure your cash purchase HEREIf you need a portfolio/commercial style loan then you actually have to ask each and every lender their process and their terms to refinance.  

In the living room they had a window AC unit, but it didn't drain properly and damaged a good 4'x8' section of the hardwood as well as the subfloor.

Let us know the details and we can advise properly.  

We have over 40 properties on this policy and we have relied on our agent to properly insure us.

As a heads up...you don't want to post on a public forum anything that might look like a solicitation for funds for an investment unless you have the proper SEC filings.

You have to do manual j to figure out the proper size furnace and air conditioning also need to make sure that your ducts are the proper size (cfm) for the new unit.