Christian,As Dave mentioned, I think explaining your situation to your LO and getting pre-approved is your best bet.

I'm betting on one of my tools not being there for me when I retire so that has made me even more determined to fine tune them all so that hopefully each of them will provide me the retirement I'm looking for.  

I'm sure a LOT of CA-based investors primarily bet on appreciation and pay out of pocket for the expenses & mortgage. 

Selling real estate in a low value market IE median price point like some of the little mid western towns that hovers around 100 to 130k or so that can be a challenge if you cant do volume.. and I can see why wholesaling is so popular in those markets..

PS Chris, no I think your post should be very popular.

Like others have said, your best bet might be finding a home off market.

I bet it's not much.

I digress thoughYa I was kind of shocked to that Lori had never met Wendy I bet she lives within 10 miles of us..

I think its just leveraging your local real estate agent is probably your best bet or maybe even possibly getting your RE license if you start doing enough deals. 

I lived in this rv park for 4 yrs and I became good friends with the owner and playing around I told him to sell me his 45 spot rv park and he said he would sell it to me for 750k.This rv park is one of the most popular rv parks in the region.