I really hope others can take a few notes from this and avoid these tough life lessons on their own. 

I am seeking recommendations on areas to consider and areas to avoid, especially in Irvine, as that is the place eventually I will buy in for my family.

It's my understanding that if you apply for pre-approval with several lenders, it's best to have them all perform a hard credit pull within a 2-week span, to avoid it affecting your credit.

Two rules apply:1) The cost of the replacement property must equal or exceed the price of the sold property (less actual selling/closing costs).2) Seller must reinvest All of the cash received from the sale of the property, to totally avoid taxes.  

I'm following this thread because if there is a way to avoid this seasoning period I'd love to hear about it! 

Also, PM me the company you're working with so I can avoid them :-)David

For the most part it doesn't matter and is purely a numbers game, but you will probably have less competition if you avoid the absentee owner lists as that is seemingly everyone's first stop.

Do you want to convert the occupant to a potential renter or will you be offering them cash for keys in hopes of avoiding an eviction? 

I've been avoiding posting, doing my best to scour the forums for answers to basic questions.

I am learning that Real-Estate consists of a MANY different aspects that are ALL so essential to the business, which almost makes it imposibble to be that One-Man-Band that so many of us feel we need to be.