@John Mason Assuming you are in a decent part of town, you should have no issue with demand for a medium term rental.

Most likely the issue is poor surface water management, failing gutters or missing downspout extensions.

To begin with and develop confidence, start small by beginning with a single rental property or a modest multi-unit property.To choose the ideal property kinds for your investment goals and risk tolerance, do in-depth market research to uncover attractive investment markets and examine local market trends.

I immediately see repair, permit, and maintenance issues.

You're the one who pays, so you're the one who decides how much to pay.I've had similar issues in the past with the people who do work for me.  

I am thinking about moving out to Sacramento, as I see some duplex’s around 500-700k range.I’m planning on house hacking my first property, which would be a multifamily, and build a portfolio of multi-families within the Sacramento area.

I have an investment thats been stable. has not required much upkeeptwo years iv owned it without much difficulty finding renters hvac, roof without issues so far but are on the back end of expected life.  

I've been fascinated with real estate for nearly a year and made a promise to myself that I would own my first multi-family at the beginning of 2025 and utilize my current time to look for deals and educate myself.

Looking for lenders who you've seen are willing to issue a HELOC (or loan) in 2nd position on an investment property. 

Banks requires (2) months copies of your checking or account for the down payment.If you get the cash into the account 3 months prior it will "not" show as a large deposit that you have to source and show it came from a personal loan which then causes no issues in underwriting.