Ideally we would buy a multi family property here in San Diego and have her live in one while renting the other, but the math just doesn't add up in SoCal now, maybe not ever, so for now we will probably keep her in FL.

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

We have flipped a dozen single family houses in the past but want to develop a rental portfolio.

I have family members who started in REI (to varying degrees of success) and have always wanted to enter in myself. 

There are lenders that will go down to 620 for your middle mortgage FICO credit score with more money down and lenders who will do 15% down for a single family with 720 and above with a 1.2 DSCR ratio (more on that below).

But, if you are in a more "value" oriented neighborhood, this could work.Alternatively, on the single family side, I converted what was a 3 bed (granted the third bed was originally the garage) back into a 2 bed.  

My sister in law and husband recently moved to LA into a single family home which is broken out into two units (upstairs and downstairs). 

If you want to get into multi-family underwriting, I suggest the following YouTube channels:https://www.youtube.com/@BreakIntoCREhttps://www.youtube.com/@tacticareshttps://www.youtube.com/@adventuresincreBreak into CRE has some VERY affordable courses on underwriting Excel underwriting models.

Trying to assess when it's time for us to set up family trusts/new LLCs/registered agents etc...obviously it's a big cost, but makes total sense.

The family knew it and did not expect much out of the property.Even though they had an agent in the family, they were looking for a quick cash buyer.