I have also considered investing outside of California, but frankly, I keep finding really good deals here and so my money stays in-state. 

In my opinion, i dont think the price can get lower than now which means that from here they will slightly start going up, I reckon it might be very slow, but unless you are in a hurry to sell, i think it can be a very good investment with the years; by now, apart from enjoying the great enviroment and food here, you can also rent it, in high season you can get really good money by renting to foreigners (especially English and Nordics) that follow the spanish sun even in winter!

I was wondering if hard money lenders or private lenders require you to be licensed as a mortgage loan Officer to find them new clients.

That's a place where someone can make REAL money and have a few crews out doing the actual work. 

The age old question of how to get started in RE will always have its answers and like many said above it is not easy, if you live in FLA and do not have FLA money what do you do? 

Do you have downpayment money ready to invest when you find the right option? 

However, more money has been made the other way; scaling to volume.  

Get an idea of how much extra money you have available to put into the business consistently. 

The only thing holding me back from trying to keep them is the fact that I want to use the money from this project to fund a different multifamily project here in the Seattle area.

I have found good deals used but time is money and with an occupied property I just buy new.