I'm not suggesting you should break the law, but you should weight the spirit of the law vs its application.

A good inspector is worth their weight in gold.

@Peter Kush In my experience you're not going to find a lot of fourplexes in desirable areas in Dallas either.

Augustine has a lot of different neighborhoods...beautiful beaches...Intracostal...high dollar golf communities...quaint historic area...older neighborhoods with concrete block homes with big lots being being brought back to mid century style...less desirable neighborhoods that may never be...you need to decide what niche you want to concentrate on...I think you tell which I like....but a lot of buyers and investors have discovered our beautiful slice of paradise and potential deals are difficult to come by...

Once you get a comfortable number under new leases, then take the next batch of tenants, who are less desirable, and be more aggressive about rent increases, and so on so forth.  

I'm here to learn more about the best way to acquire profitable properties but I'm very debt adverse, how to learn more about my desired market and managing properties (or hiring that out).  

You need to figure out the residual value of the site based on the desired profit margin.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has experience flipping homes in the San Francisco Bay Area (Particularly Alameda County) and in the more desirable areas of Los Angeles. 

Untimely, I do not believe they will produce the results the marketer desires. 

It's not terrible or war zone, but it's not fantastically desirable either.