My single family unit is near a college and I rent to college kids. 

That said, being in California, its a single action state so neither of you have to worry about anyone coming after you for a deficiency.My two cents, unless there is TONS of equity and/or unless you have tons of discretionary cash laying around to reinstate, I'd let it go and start over.

And I want to see what kind of options we have in regards to getting a mortgage (haven't applied for one in 20+ years)We currently live in a Townhouse (it's up to date) ARV is $250k +/- We are looking at Single Family Homes in the area at around $400k.

Hello everyone I’ve spent the past year and a half saving up some money I’ve got about $20,000 saved up and I’m looking to buy a single family home with 3+ bedrooms, a basement and 2.5 bathrooms.

Hi @Brandon Sturgill,  It's a single family property.

In my experience, investing out of state in a single family or small multifamily is fraught with risk:1) You won't be an expert in the area (unless you've lived there)2) You have serious tenant risk (1 bad tenant can ruin years of returns)3) Good quality, small asset property managers are tough to come by

Just Remodeled 3BR/2BA Single floor ranch, 123 Main st, City, NC).   

My aunts new husband has 5 single family homes that he had built.

Some is land, some is my Dad's home, and a few other single family homes we are flipping.

Do you know anything about the zoning laws of creating to two units on a single family residence property?