I was in your shoes before and I know how tough it can be.

I verbally warned her when she moved in to make sure she ran the A/C periodically to keep it dry, but she hasn't, and recently she found mold on a lot of her shoes and clothing. 

Sometimes when I feel I want to buy a new hat or a new pair of shoes and I alk out our front yard gate and going down the street to get to the market which is about a 15 minute walk from our house, a neighbor pops out to greet me and tells me they cannot afford to buy their kid a new schools uniform this year, not problem I pull out my money and tell them,"here go buy your kid a new school uniform" .

Buying real estate may seem difficult now being in your shoes, but buying is actually the easiest part while owning is the hard part.

I have walked in your shoes 3 times in S.

If you step out of a contractor's shoes how would you recommend the homeowner make sure the roof is done properly if a city inspection is not performed?

Put yourself in the seller's shoes: if they have two offers on the table and one is from an unknown out of state lender (or national, faceless, on-line lender) and the other has closed tons of deals with your agent and is a known quantity, who do you think you'd go with?

If I were in your shoes I would be locating a city outside of Cali.

Put your track shoes on and run.  

@Anthony Bibbins Never Split The Difference, Richest Man in Babylon, As A Man Thinkith, Shoe Dog.These are 4 of my favorites, should keep you busy for a while