Also, I communicate w/some other investors who've had decent success w/debt (home loans) via various platforms the past 3-4 years and a few have noted an uptick in delinquencies and/or defaults the past 3-6 months depending on the platform and a decline in the quality & qty of the offerings in general (higher LTV, slightly lower rates, etc).

It's possible, but slower than some other methods.

I use several methods to find properties.

3) Can anyone refer a quality contractor in San Diego with experience dealing with the 203K process? 

Just the method of execution, but as others have pointed out, you might be able to make it work the way you want if you can quickly get the loan out of the borrower's name and into your name.

My goal is to utilize real estate investing for passive income streams and to begin working for myself as opposed to others, while providing a high quality of life for myself and future family.I am currently interested in networking, and finding both single family & multifamily buy/hold, & fix/flip opportunities throughout Arizona.

Are there any pitfalls to know of when using this method?

I wanted to voice my hesitations using these methods across the forum and see what others think about this.Timeframe – It seems like many of the threads that use this guide line started 5-8 years ago… when interest rates were 5-8% and not the 3.5-4.5% that they have been hovering around the last couple years.

There are likely thousands of threads, articles, and blog posts that can help you figure out methods to research leads.

**DISCLAIMER** I know my profile picture is poor quality, however it is me, it was posted onto my Facebook in about 2010/11, so just hang tight for a higher quality picture in the near future!