If you pay the utility, internet, car storage can beef up a little.

The house is 2400sf with about 600sf of common area and 300sf of utility room/storage.

Anyone know of any public storage syndications working in California?

If I was in your shoes I would network locally to find a skilled attorney that could, at a minimum, negotiate the fees and criminal issues down.

On the bottom floor is a living room, dining room, kitchen, small 1/2 bath, small sun room, and a storage room with a sink in it.My original plan was to use the upstairs linen closet as a laundry room with stackable machines.

He started but then the ground got too soft then too hard, frozen, so we lost Winter storage of my stuff in the garage. 

Self Storage?

I am not going through old shoe boxes, but in looking at the online transactions for the past two years, I noticed everyone but me were current in HOA payments.  

The notion of having 2 kitchens isn't much of an issue to; one can serve as pantry or storage. 

Story is too long to post here but the plumbers' insurance had to pay to tear out and reinstall approx. 650 sq. ft of hardwoods, plus base and shoe mold.