It's worth researching which entity structure is favored under the tax treaty with your home country.

We typically make our rentals on a 15 amort, but I need this one on a fixed 30 in order for it to cashflow and favorable rates.

Jesus Do yourself a favor and look up equity stripping.

Point 3 by @Nathan G. is a good place to start to determine if this is a pricing strategy that is in your favor or is a form of marketing bait. 

I know several successful investors that essentially ignore cash flow altogether, in favor of total returns.

Adverse conditions cause the capitalization rate to be adjusted higher; favorable conditions cause it to be lowered.

From what I know about them there are many more hurdles to jump through as a contractor and on the "approval" side of things, but the people who talk favorably about them usually mention that: "it's guaranteed money" for the contractor, so it tends to attract the best of the best from a quality standpoint but the work is a premium...again have never done it myself, just what I found when I was reading about them.   

Compare that to current times where I couldn’t realistically imagine less inventory, lower interest rates, or any other factor to be in the favor of strong real estate prices.

So, I asked my mortgage lender about a traditional mortgage and the terms are pretty favorable, but since I already own the house I was told I have to own the property for 6 months before we can do what is essentially a cash out refi.

As a rental you participate in debt paydown, property appreciation (CA isn't going anywhere over the longer haul . . . maybe for a minute but it seems likely that it will come roaring back), tax favor, and cashflow.TLDR:  It depends on your goals, but most people wish they would have kept more and sold less, so I'll echo them here:  keep it and rent it.