I can also point you towards a few good contractors and property management companies in Southern California if you're interested.

I definitely agree with everyone about looking for more units in your next purchase, but not a terrible thing to try to hold what you have in southern California for the sake of appreciation and turning that property into your bank with refinances.

I also spent some of my earlier years in Southern California, so I have an appreciation of your market.Chicago is a nice place, but it has large sections of the city which are lower income areas.  

Currently residing in Southern California; however, I was born and raised in Monterey, CA.

Anyways, property is located in Southern California and not exactly sure about VA/FHA rules on making up the difference of appraisal to close the deal if appraisal waived.

If an agent has two similar houses to show to their buyer in an area where they normally receive 2.5% for their work, and one house is offering 1.5% commission, and the other is offering 2.5%, you can bet that that agent is going to be a whole lot more interested in showing their buyer the house offering the standard commission.Now, your original post asked about the difference between 5% and 6% - I'll speak to that as an agent in Southern California.

Their are people here in Southern California that are making real estate cashflow.

Bigger Pockets actually showed up while I was researching stock market investing, and something clicked.My grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher by trade, but he invested in real estate as a side hustle...and hustle he did.

I've known others who have gone this route in Southern CA only to sell due to high lot rents.

I speak Spanish and English (I believe this is an advantage)I would love to invest (especially flip/rehab) here in Southern California, but I am getting tired of people telling me that is IMPOSSIBLE to start investing here, IMPOSSIBLE to cash flow positive, IMPOSSIBLE to rehab if I dont have at least 1,000,000 cash in my pocket.I even attended yesterdays Webinar "How to find Incredible deals" and discussed it with an experienced Flipper this morning.