I've also made the conscious decision to invest in a very landlord friendly state with good police presence.  

Get all of the things done between 4-8a that do not require talking to peoplereturning emailsChecking your market for properties that have come on the market or changed in status since yesterday/do market researchPay billsCheck on the status of current deals you have in the pipelineRead educational blog posts and articles/ check the forumsDo any marketing that doesn't involve phone callsSet your plan for the rest of the day and if you have employees think about what you want them to do when they get inEnjoy the peace and quietDrink coffee and eat a good breakfastWorkoutThis way when the rest of the world wakes up you are ready for them and are not bogged down with busy work. 

The shorter route can also work but IMO, at a much greater expense to your wallet, your conscious, your "higher self" and your quality of sleep at night.     

Wholesaling , Rehabbing and Flipping is all I eat , sleep and think about!

My concern is with the hard money period, I would rather not pull the funding until the tenants are out. 30 day notice + 2-3 months average eviction in Sacramento eats up a ton of our time.

Other expenses will eat you up.

@Sherwin Gonzales - Our younger Bay Area FTHB homebuyers tend to be progressive and concerned about (or at least conscious of) gentrification/displacement.

You will need something local and that eats into your profits, or if you travel to TX a lot you get the same result.  

But as @Tiger M. states you can refuse the payments since they are only partials and foreclose as well.. again though in my mind to foreclose over late fee's is jumping over dollars to collect pennies. and at the end of the day if I never got a late fee what the heck.. they could use it more than me.. its not going to change what I do were I eat were I travel the quality of the wine I buy etc etc..

Downside would be that it would require more $$ to flip while renting and I'm trying to be as cash conscious as possible short-term.