I'm a recently licensed agent and this is something that I've been hearing from investors.

I’m looking into the commercial short term rental license.

In that scenario your investment could be at risk if you aren't able to make it cashflow after paying for all expenses including property management.As a former US Marine, active real estate investor, licensed CA agent and property manager I'm able to speak your language and can help you avoid extremely costly mistakes. 

The costs for repair are held in escrow until the contractor (you'll want one that understands the 203k process) completes the work and you sign off on it.

More cautious next time -- maybe get TWO references, no matter how great the ONE was -- get a copy of the contractor's license and bond (what?

Lili here, I am a first-time investor looking for a couple different things:1)  A house hack in or near the downtown area.2) Connections to real estate agents, contractors, etc. to start building a network and deciding on a strategy for my REI (wholesaling, BRRRR, etc.)I am a recent college grad (June 2018) with no debt, around ~$20k in savings, very low expenses, and I travel a good amount, so Airbnb can be an option as well.Any and all advice and recommendations are more than welcome!

Currently I’m a project engineer for a heavy civil general contractor on the Big Island.I’ve been interested in real estate investing for a few years now but have yet to purchase my first investment property. 

What i am wondering is if it would be a good idea to start another LLC (currently have one, licensed, bonded) since we are both handling our flip and our contracting work under the same LLC. 

Whether it’s as a broker, contractor, investor, etc....

Not a rule/reg, but I would wonder whether the repairs/rebuilds from the fires still have contractors in Ventura tied up.