Nothing was listed in detail, and when we pushed him for details, he said everything was obvious as to what would be completed.

If it works out you go ahead, if not you only lost a few thousand. 

I certainly can’t sell another property this year without doing a 1031 as it would push me in to “give us all your money” tax bracket. 

lolEric, if you are OOS and you are self-managing, there will be some costs associated with that, but the LL will still be ahead of the game. 

I was flabbergasted that this portfolio lender then had me come in DAYS before I was set to close on the newer property and said he would only give me 25% ($50,000) - no reason...even after I pushed him for a reason.

Severe restrictions on density keep pushing the city out closer to wildfires.

If you can afford to learn on this property, go ahead..Be happy to chat. 

That is really how you come out ahead. 

Depending where in the area you buy you can get into a nicely rehabbed on market duplex for that price range, that should fetch in the $950-$1200 per side range (that's fairly conservative, depending on the area you can push 1400 per side), again depending on the property itself and location.  

Way to make a head start.