Maybe someone with recent experience can chime-in, but without proper licensing you can't do what you're describing in Philly. 

@Julio Velazquez a stabilized property will provide more income, cost more and be less work if the tenants were properly screened and everything is documented.

@Obadiah Roszman and @Janelle Carlson if you can qualify for a Fannie/Freddie type of loan then I wrote an article on how to properly structure your cash purchases HERE. 

The vast majority of our rentals (SFHs in DC proper) are unfurnished, and we advise owners that that's the best way to go.

Is he telling this to the tenant and never served proper notice back then? 

If analyzed and assessed properly, it can validate your ultra-conservative income and expenses. 

Then they start lending, but only on deals and borrowers they have fully vetted and only with proper forms documents and procedure.Sometimes our passive investors stay to learn from the speaker, and I have found that our more successful passive lenders do stay.

While I haven’t gotten anything under contract yet, I’ve managed to land a handful of leads on currently occupied rentals in Detroit proper, Iowa, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

InsuranceWe need to insure on the LLC's name or in our name - depending on what we decide on the title.Should I seek products tailored to short-rentals like Foremost or Proper through Lloyd's of London?

If you buy while still in San Diego then you still have the chance to take care of this and that and get proper management in place.