If it helps, I have NOVA clients that shop in areas closer that are MUCH cheaper.

As a RE seller and I sell a lot of property each year that we own well over 70 properties and almost all the pre approval letters come in right at the max they can borrow IE they get approved for 400k they don't shop for a 250k house they go right to the max.For the Rich and famous I have bought those as well  ( well at least sports stars) and I will mention one by name since he is deceased..

I need to shop around for property managers.

I would suggest buying a policy now(be sure to shop local independent agents) and do a cancel/rewrite in 4-6 months when fire season is low.  

Having been both a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker for the last 25 + years, I will tell you that the advantage used to be that brokers had access to more loan products and programs and the ability to shop your deal at multiple lenders and in the days of Alt-A and "creative financing" they were your go to source. 

FWIW, if, you’re interested in investment sales (hotels, apartments, shopping centers, etc), you might be able to leverage your accounting education.

Maybe you should start shopping around for other partners so you have multiple people to call upon when a good deal pops up.

How would you redo the floors in the kitchen and the adjacent living area?

If the catastrophic happened, what's stopping the group from liquidating everything and closing up shop?

The vacant unit was previously a BBQ shop/restaurant.