The term Real Estate investing is very broad. 

They've bought and rented some houses in my area too, and several of those were listed at the upper end of the rental price spectrum for 3 or 4 BR houses.  

It is tough to get this type of information in a broad sense because it depends on the local municipality but I need a starting point.  

@Daniel SistoYou'll get better responses if you ask very specific questions instead of broad ones.

However, it seems like your interests are very broad.  

I know this is a very broad question; so, to narrow it, if I have limited capital would SF be the first step to start?

It can be a very deep subject and your question is pretty broad. :)

While most are outwardly hoping rents will increase like they have recently, the rumor is that they will be flat.Understand, I'm painting this picture with a broad brush.

Actually, you haven't determined the fair market value of the house...you've simply determined a broad estimate for market value.

Some investors may not want to buy the property in an LLC so you should check your buyers on their requirements.If your flipping to a Retail C-buyer, then your going to purchase the property with your LLC on the A to B, then resell th property on the B to C, not the LLC.In my opinion, short sales are one of the most difficult deals to orchestrate, but the broad strokes in your outline sound okay to me.