There I met an investor that said he has his realtor license, but uses it more for investing than as his primary business.  

Not sure if that's the best strategy of if we eventually claim the home in PDX as primary residence down the road and turn our primary residence in California into a rental?

Make sure you get the Heloc while the unit is still your primary as that makes a huge difference for lenders.ask a few banks about their programs because they are NOT all the same.

If refinance is your primary exit strategy for a hard money deal, why not offer the Estate a shorter loan term?

Both were primary homes initially but the first one I rented out after I got married and was cashflow positive about $900/month in addition to the principal appreciation equivalent to a 54% IRR over those 5 years I owned the first property.

Provided you do not say the feeling was you would be murdered in your sleep because the applicant was a convicted murderer.Bottom line is you can discriminate to protect your business interests provided you have an alternate  primary reason for rejecting the applicant.

I mean this is bigger pockets and the primary topic of conversation here is SFR investments... then we all grow up and buy apartments and shoppimg centers.

My primary interests revolve around buy-and-hold and possibly flipping.  

My former primary residence prior to working overseas (unplanned rental that is underwater) and my first actual investment property purchased in December 2015.

3) How do you handle it when tenants' parents intend to pay the rent but won't occupy the premises?