I didn't believe him (he and I grew up in the same area our college was located at) and he wanted me to drive out there with him to prove it but it was like 1 AM and I refused. 

The market is tough down here but deals don’t come that often in Coburg, Oregon/ Eugene, Oregon.

Thus far not a single person could come up with a valid reason why DMM is a good choice.Also thus far not a SINGLE person could prove to me a better ROI with DMM, plus reliability and cost effectiveness of DMM compared to PPC, Facebook ads or SEO (assuming you have a credible website of course).

You have to prove what the expense was actually for.

The LA market is tough and by analyzing his deals I figured he generally purchases at ~75% ARV, then puts in 10% of PP repairs, so this should be a reasonable target) Looking for a house with an ARV value of about $700-800KBRRR and cashflow sooner than later.Obstacles: VA and Physician loan requirements for the condition of a property- may limit my options for fixers.

Breaking in to a luxury market might be tough (but I firmly believe that anything is possible). 

It's very tough to get a HELOC on a rental property.

is the loan process tough ?

With the right post-sale contract you can set up a variety of structures but as @Chris Mason stated, how you purchase the property might prove to be problematic.If the property is using cash or hard-money, then you will have more flexibility.  

I am a little apprehensive about the investment because it appears to be in need of a major rehab, which may prove to be too much for me to jump into for my first property.