This property is 1.4 acres with a four bedroom, one bath home in need of extensive renovations.

As you can see per the attached images the damage to my front stairs is pretty extensive from the mortar and winter salt.

I want to buy and hold RE and collect rent and over time accumulate enough to live off my rental income.

Even though you are collecting cash flow you are technically not the "owner".

perhaps collect modest finder's fees or however that's worked to cover your own marketing costs and/or what not?

Rural Development loan with a 15 day extension if needed.  

I also like the demographic data they collect for these properties.Any ideas on finding good investment properties outside of bay area.

Going through all of this, I had to get an extension from HUD (no small feat) and  I thought I could use transactional funding to do an A-B, B-C (HUD to me: me to my LLC) and set it up using a proof of funds letter from iflip, and a letter from COGO (lender)I thought I had done a pretty good job of resolving everyone's concerns.  

The deed restrictions and financing restrictions are an extension of this, they are not the only controls in place to stop illegal flipping, but it is where these rules originally came from 

The site is very slick and the information provided very extensive (slightly more so than the competition)  - on the whole impressed with the process and communication from the team.