Tyler,On a purchase the lender will always go off of the contract price as long as it appraises for the amount that coincides with the original LTV.

Together, we negotiated favorable terms with the seller, ensuring a beneficial deal.

@Rehaan Khan yes as said the term is "Seller Financing" however I sugest you do not use that term as it might confuse the seller.

Perform the same task in each app to ensure a fair comparison.Load a property with pictures and details.Market that property.See what your marketing looks like from the public's perspective.Submit a fake application to see how easy the process is.Run a credit/screening report on yourself.Enter a maintenance request, assign a vendor, and attach a fake invoice.Enter charges to the tenant's ledger.Enter recurring charges and automatic late fees.Sign documents electronically.Run owner reports.After testing a few apps, one should clearly stand out.

THE AGENT MAY NOT UNDERSTAND ALL THAT TALK, PLUS IT'S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS WHAT YOUR GOING TO DO, AS LONG AS HE RECEIVES 3% FROM SELLER,  THE $2,000 FROM YOU AS WELL AS HIS CLIENT SELLING OFF HIS PROPERTY AT THE PRICE CURRENT LISTED PRICE (OR WHATEVER YOU NEGOTIATE) ....

While reading your post I was thinking "sell the Cali properties", but with 3-4% interest rates (and I'm assuming those are long term fixed rates) you will be best off to cash out refi (non-tax event) and use those funds to buy multifamily.

@John DeanPrivate money would but private money is short term so you are more liquid and I believe borrowers on private money are a lot more qualified and you have much lower ltv than you would on a seller finance

This can be advantageous because it often allows for more flexible terms, such as lower down payments and sometimes even lower interest rates.

to give some feedback, you will need to estimate the cost to repair the house; if you don't know how to do that, we just need some  information of what the house needs and the sqft of the propertyIf the house is, as an example, 2500 sqft, and It looks like you are stuck in time back in the 1980s, but the AC is working,  the roof is ok, and there are no foundation, plumbing, or electrical issues; I can assume maybe a $20 per sqft, so the rehab is about $50K to 60KIf the ARV is 290K minus 10% closing/holding costs, - minus 20% profit - $50K rehab, ideally, in this example, I need to buy the house for about $150K to flip it, but as a landlord, I may be able to pay a bit more, as long as rehab is not too much, and rental is about $3,000 to $3,500 a month

They seem, at the surface, to be a logical instrument for long term incentive alignment, especially in today's market.