The question is will I be screwed since I didn’t trade up even though I spent all the profits and took no cash?

Most of our loan after the fixed period head to a libor margin/index (that's changing next couple years).

Additionally, what is the damage in already having had deposits of profits direct deposited into my personal checking account?

We built spec homes in the early 2000’s, which was very profitable, but we all know what happened to that market.

I figured I'd give house-hacking a residential duplex/triplex a try first to get my feet on the ground before tackling something bigger (though definitely want to go for bigger properties eventually, economies of scale make it more profitable I'd think)

Any house in San Jose is going to be worth far above that, so whatever back taxes are owed would usually just come out of the seller's net profits at closing.

Welcome, @Chris R.SoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

Has anyone found that fix and flips are drying up? I used to get 3-4 good deals to flip per month, now I am lucky to see 1 per month. I have recently taken a new direction which I believe the market is just now allowi...

All the info and help you need is right here, without taking half your profits!

With such a big purchase I assume that’s the best way to wholesale such a deal when you want to keep a big profit margin from scaring off the B-CI assume that you sign a regular purchase agreement and just make sure to match the terms.