California law allows 2x deposit for unfurnished and 3x for furnished homes

Short term, I am looking to get my feet wet, I want to learn as much as I can about rental properties, flipping, and buy and hold to gain enough information to be comfortable with my first deal.Long term, I hope to acquire enough rental property to produce enough passive income that would allow me to spend more time with my wife and newborn baby girl.I would like to thank everyone in advance for your knowledge and time in working with me.

BTW, my monthly expenses are all encompassing - any mortgages + insurance, taxes, vacancy allowance, capex - but not taxes, since those are (largely) offset by itemization.

In our case the bank allowed us to count the tenant's income right away (with a signed lease) towards the purchase.  

Some states allow assistant access. 

NOTE: Most cities do NOT allow bandit signs, so put them up Friday after 5pm, and take them down Sunday night.

Before you even consider a trip to court (and I'm not sure why you'd consider this option at this point anyway) you need to be aware of your options as a tenant in your state in terms of what you can do if a landlord does not address repair issues to make a rental unit "habitable".You also need to be aware of just what limits a landlord must go to to achieve this.Colorado does allow a tenant the right to withhold rent IN SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES if a rental unit is "uninhabitable". 

Otherwise you have a big gaping hole that allows the elements in.This summer I have had 4 swamp cooler related phone calls that required rapid response. 

The equity in the larger would allow for an all cash purpose and in the end the smaller one would cash flow better.  

First step is to determine what you're allowed based on current zoning and see what if my will take to get a variance if required.