If you get a good one they will charge you a pretty penny for your first deals, but also expect that they may need to coach you a bit through the process before you find your legs.

I can understand that in general a good deal takes time to find- but I am curious if the conventional rules of cash flow apply in LA, or if it's simply that extreme of a market.

depends how the agreement is setup. sometimes people charge a premium to accept rent by weekly, in that case rent is due every two weeks. at $500 monthly you would collect an extra $250 per year. if rent is due on the 1st and 15th of the month, you only collect rent twice per month regardless of number of weeks.are you a renter or a landlord asking?

If I’m going the conventional loan route for a 4-plex out of state, do I need to find a lender in the area I’m investing or can my local banks lends for investment properties out of state?

If you do decide to invest in these type of areas you definitely want to factor in a higher management fee because I know management companies will charge a higher rate knowing what their getting themselves into with dealing with those areas.

If you buy in your personal name then you CAN refi into your name getting a conventional loan if the property is 1-4 units.

At this point I have a few traditional lenders (local banks charging 4.75-5’ish %) that can close in 30 days.

Note if you are getting conventional financing, an appraisal will be required.  

Even though that was about 10 years ago they're all paid off (I don't refi them as they're not worth enough to bother, and I can't get conventional SFH loans anyway. 

I have two SFR under contract with my partners and I am looking for advice on how to structure conventional loans with  partners.