Hello Jonathan, welcome aboard, the community has everything you will need, from education, Q&A, and seasoned pros.  

Hello,I see that in California, landlords need to give 60-days of notice for leases that are over 1 year old, and 30 for under a year old.

I have a house that I need to refinance.

If the property needs rehab you could pull this off on a fix and flip loan if you have a solid track record. 

We’d love to just keep this home as our first rental property but feel stuck with the high monthly payment due to the 15yr mortgage and the home needing some renovations in the next few years. 

I sent a friendly message to her saying that I am the new owner and reach out if she needs anything.

Transfer of Leases and Tenant Information•Review the existing leases to ensure compliance with local laws and assess any terms that may need to be adjusted.

You need to be more specific about that because a few hundred thousand would work, but if you mean under 10k, you aren't close to doing anything in real estate. 15k is your minimum for reserves after purchasing so even if you buy something with 3.5 percent down, you need that downpayment plus 15k plus closing cost and any rehab.It seems you just like what you listened to, but you should not invest at all for at least a year because you are too likely to be convinced something is a good deal before you know anything.

Order a boundary survey from a registered surveyor showing the existing house and if you are making changes such as adding to the existing structure you will need to provide the addition and or deck changes on the survey as well.  

These are things tenants value and it doesn't cost much money to do it.What are some things you add?