Personally If these rules keep investors out or financial trouble, I think they are very worthwhile.

I have a great couple in the house as tenants and I don't want to involve them in this.

I don't know any personally but the Bay Area is such a huge market I'm sure you can find someone.

My best lender when I was active was a private person. 

I'm so use to being involved in the day-to-day business of the property management side of things so I'm struggling to understand how much the new property manager should be communicating with me and how often.As an example, I had a tenant break a garage door recently (drove into the door on accident).

I am sending mailers, but would rather not list my personal residence or use a PO box.

I have not done this personally but I do have several clients who are in year 1 or 2 of utilizing this strategy. 

The architect will have a structural engineer they usually use, you can go ahead and use that person or someone else.After that is done, have your architect draft a bid form/template. 

Personally I think it depends on the type of investing opportunities you're looking for and where or why we are seeing an increase in market activity.

"Staying' in the home or 'moving in'You can't 1031 into a personal residence.