you have to assume the worse and bid accordingly (very low). 

You will have negative cash flow and will only be able to rely on appreciation to profit....extremely risky.Additionally if plan A is a serious option for you then you are a very low risk investor and may want to reconsider directly investing in real estate and may be better off putting your money in a REIT.A investor, assuming they have the ability to move, would sell the CA property and move their money to where it can actually produce positive cash flow.

Have you read The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down by @Brandon Turner? 

Also consider low flow shower heads.

If I refinance as a owner occupy they will give me 85 in most cases 100% of the appraised value added low APR.

I think it was about $3.20/ft from Lowes.

Buy when prices are high....just buy a lot more when prices are low. 

@Marc Izquierdo - I do a lot of investing and PMing in low income neighborhoods and I will tell you that just being in a low income neighborhood will result in tenants that are hard on buildings, irregardless of how the rent gets paid.  

For rentals, although the risk of getting FC'd is low, you should always have an exit strategy to prevent a loss.

Hi @Sam Hanaa, yes, that is correct, but many are absolute disasters (ie, can't be cost-effectively brought back up to snuff), or they are being advertised at a low price with an offer presentation date.I agree that there some more opportunities than a year or two ago!