With a  3% FHA I should be able to get there (anticipated $15k saved by the time my lease expires).

I certainly had to spend more than anticipated.

However after my showing I think its a much bigger project than I anticipated and likely wouldn't qualify for traditional financing, so wanted to ask the community about how larger developers are turning these big old houses into multiple condos all over Boston.

The delays seemed like they would never end, and it ended up costing quite a bit more than anticipated.

Sorry to hear that your local investments didn't go as well as you anticipated.

A little off topic, but how do you anticipate making money in the CA market except on appreciation?

Little equity in the buy, and little anticipated appreciation growth.  

I would suggest that you read the full regulations and anticipate that they city will be enforcing everything.  

For example, sometimes if you look at the listing history for a stale listing, you can see a pattern ... as in, the seller/agent has reduced the list price by $10k every month it doesn't sell for the last 3 months ... then, if you see a pattern like that you can get a feel for if/when it will get down to the ballpark it needs to be price wise ... make a mental note to check back around then, and you can then put an offer in the night before you expect them to drop their price again, with the anticipated price drop, plus an additional smaller price drop to get you a great deal ...

The most basic way I do it is as follows:I anticipate 5% rental income.