Whether or not you should proceed with buying your first investment property outside of California depends on various factors and your individual circumstances

There are a lot of "micro-skills" required: finding a great deal, forecasting returns accurately, financing it, hiring and managing contractors (difficult!)

Best you can get would be 15% down as an investment property or if you can show proper intentions, you could call it a Vacation home which only requires 10% down as long as it is a (SFR - single family).

Or put the 88k in, refi out of the HML which requires you to come out of pocket quite a bit of money as well, and hold it long term which on paper may eventually make you whole.

It's not required, but it would be good on you to try to help her find a new place if you can.

Do you enter the bedroom, bathroom and square footage of the combined units or should you separate each one and input as its own individual property?

I am hoping to meet like minded individuals who can share their experience getting started, what their biggest hurdles were and how to over come them, and general advice/guidance.I am in the Los Angeles area but open to learning about other markets!

Verify all utilities are transferred & rental insurance obtained (if you require)6.

In fact, the law requires the landlord to maintain the home and your policy may not even be legal.

I'd definitely take a look at those Wholesaling categories and identify some individuals that you'd like to mentor/partner with and see if theres any way you can provide value and/or just reach out to them and ask!