I had heard as you described about if in same vicinity, if the homes were significantly different life styles that you could get 2nd home loan.I live in inland north county San Diego (Poway) and wanted a 2nd home loan for a San Diego beach property (mission Beach).

FCI covers almost every state, are not overly expensive, but they are a big company and sometimes the different parties don't communicate well with each other.I have also used Allied and August servicing with good results.

You have a different level of support, have to pay for all of your supplies/marketing, and generally have to figure it out yourself.

It may make more sense to sell and buy a different property.Regarding that property, don't assume an LLC is the best path.  

As you start interviewing you will see that there are vast differences and you will learn from them.

I think that's the fundamental difference in our thinking.

Try looking at it a slightly different way with some quick math:$900,000 sales price$22,500 cost of purchase (appraisal, points, lender fees, title fees, etc - 2.5%)$90,000 cost of sale (10% commissions, closing costs, buyer credits)$64,000 carrying costs (6 months at 10%)$25,000 additional carrying costs (6 months taxes, utilities, HOA, misc)$100,000 rehab cost (the number used above)$68,500 profit = $530,000 max allowable offer.Some numbers may be a bit high, others may be a bit low. 

The process isn't complicated - but managing shady Cleveland contractors isn't ideal for people with high-tempo careers LOL That's why I'm trying to get a gist of the different ways people do this. 

The property is a 6-unit building in Los Angeles.Given the significant difference in current rents vs. market rates, I'm looking for advice on how to legally and ethically approach raising the rents to reflect market value, should I decide to move forward with the purchase.Some additional context: even if I were to negotiate a better (reasonable) price and were to successfully evict a tenant who is 5 months behind on their rent and charge the market rent for that unit I'd still be -$600/month. 

There are a number of them around the Seattle area as well as some different investor Facebook groups.By meeting other investors you will be able to get information from different people utilizing different strategies that work in this area and determine which are the most interesting to you.