We never know when a bubble will burst, but after looking over trends in general, one can take grave notice to a few things changing rapidly in regards to real estate.

Given keys a the time of purchase, empty house turned into a rental unit in one month.

Well, you might be kind of missing a key point.

Professional communication is the key.

Our MLS is on an e-key that only agents and appraisers can get access to (that I know of). 

Many investors utilize different strategies in different markets and different times in the market cycle, but it’s good to nail down one key skill at a time and get strong at it.

A great buyers agent will be able to help you fine tune your strategy, highlight market trends, knows where and what to look for, hook you up with the best lenders, inspectors, contractors, etc, get you the full background on a property and the sellers, knows how a particular property compares to other deals and what a great deal looks like, identify untypical risks and knows what to look for before you waste time and money on an offer & homeinspection just to cancel the deal later, get the lowest possible offer accepted, oversee the transaction and handle all the paperwork, including title work and appraisal, knows how to approach a short sale differently from a REO, negotiate inspections and repairs successfully and help you make more money, safes you time and lower your risk every step of the way.Sounds like you signed with someone who provides value by knowing lockbox numbers?

I think SB 608 is actually going to provide quite a bit of opportunity, though you will need to be doing more value add deals than turn key.  

Consistency is key and give it several meetings to start feeling comfortable and start learning.  

Lender-paid PMI (or LPMI) is a thing, and PMI doesn't have to paid monthly.So I would get a Loan Estimate from the lender, ask about points and origination charges, find out of PMI is being paid in lump sum, and that might be the key to why it seems like such a good deal on the surface.