In the meantime my court date is in a week and we will see how things play out. 

I can play golf year around.

(Rosemead and El Monte are pretty different from South Pas, but as you look at things online, have them drive the neighborhoods and see which ones stand out to them the most.

So...ummm...let's play "simple math"...$450K purchase price, 25% down...30 year fixed rate mortgage at 5% on $337,500 is $1,812 per month...So if you have zero vacancy you'll break-even on the mortgage...And then burn money on maintenance, cap-ex (likely very limited), any vacancy, property taxes, insurance, etc.Consequently, you really, really, REALLY need that home price to go up. 

I was reading online that its pretty hard to get your money back if a contractor just runs away.

There's been a lot of co-working space coming online but we need to land a few large biotech type tenants down there so it becomes more of a "live, work, play" environment downtown.

If you can get the rent up above $700 then it sounds like a solid play.

If you have an office but play games on your office computer, then you are not using the office exclusively for your rental business. 

I'm researching online data for Victoria TX. 

DTI, gross income, credit score all play a factor in how much you can borrow.You may want to reach out to @David Ribardo.