Of course, the other potential hiccup here is that if one member of your team misses a deadline or just falls down on the job, you're stuck trying to jerry-rig things back together at a distance (or paying for a last minute flight) in order to limit vacancy time. 

Perhaps adding the extra rent money could make the dog part happen and then explore the international part.I see that LA house as your ticket to ride.

Are there a lot of other indications of bad behavior and irresponsibility (recent evictions, a high number of speeding tickets, etc.)  

I'll make a ticket for the Android developer to look into what's causing this. 

Bigger Pockets is your golden ticket to great success, Jason.

Use the VA for a future property.More explanation:  Imagine that mortgages are Golden Tickets.  

Less than 2 days later I received a phone call saying that the police gave them a ticket for parking over night on the street (not allowed in our neighborhood between 3-6am without permission from the police department - which I had told them). 

This is the ticket to success, have the experts in their field work for you!!

At any rate, I would invest in Northern California as you are an hour flight or an 6 hour drive away from your rental.

We are trying to get a pulse on people's opinions about the market before buying our first round flights to visit, and ultimately rent, etc.