Careful structuring the insurance policy as most Vacant or BR policies do not allow for tenant occupancy. 

Wondering if there was a structured way to make an agreement with a seller, hold it for 3-4 months during rehab after agreeing upon a price, offer some percentage above that based on sale as a carrot, maybe upside based on final price.

But, I do believe they take Title to the property.Perhaps the key is structuring the Note/Lien accordingly. 

Landlord insurance would cover the structure and any personal belongings you have in the home (not the tenant). 

I have helped a few people so far (Uk and Canada), non-citizens and have learned that the issue is not really the TK provider - at least not when it comes to the investment.The issues foreigners are facing are mainly in the area of financing (to take full advantage of the leverage and currently low-interest rates), corporate structure, as well as some TK provider behavior.On the financing and corporate structure, I was able to develop relationships I make available to my mentoring clients so we can overcome these hurdles, even though it takes some time and effort.On the TK behavior, it is harder because we all don't have much influence.

For example, if the usual hard money structure is 90% of acquisition and 100% of rehab so long as the total loan amount is less than 70% of ARV, then I would expect, due to lack of experience, that you'd be looking at 85% of acquisition (as opposed to 90%). 

I'm trying to structure a California LLC as the non-cash partner.

What is the best way to structure the contract with the seller so that I can secure funding for the Rehab with my LLC?

If you want to invest in notes, that is very different and you can learn the business and try and buy on your own but for most it is more profitable to invest in a fund or other structure where you are not as active in the day to day business. 

So I'm guessing my bigger question would be how to go about structuring the deal?