As a WV native, I'm familiar with nearly all of them (Snowshoe, Timberline, Canaan, Winterplace) and can offer some insight as to which ones to steer clear of.

There's also a 203K program that allows you to borrow cash for improvements, but those programs take way longer to lock down (lender approvals, licensed contractor bids, etc...) and as you mentioned LA and surrounding areas are "sellers markets" so you need to be able to react quickly, once you find a potential property.    

This will probably cause a lot of hate, but it's a natives opinion...

I am an aspiring investor and native resident of the Yuba City / Sutter / Marysville area in California.

During my trips to Charlotte, I rarely meet native-North Carolinian.

Thanks Kevin Hunter , appreciate the input , my background is Construction which is why I’m keen to  convert it into more rental units , thanks for the great advice ,  I know the setup for how to proceed in my native Ireland but just trying to learn the ropes over here now , all the different local authorities etc , thanks again and Happy Paddys day !

They also left them behind & the same appliances except one dryer has survived 3 subsequent tenants.In our higher end properties we do install better quality appliances & we have a repair guy we can trust on speed dial, so he reacts quickly for us.

How you react to problems largely determines your risk level.The competition is also very different.

My name is Jontavius and I am a native of Georgia.

If you go to them in person, you don't know how they will react and it could put you in a dangerous spot.