Yooklid I would heed the advice of the people who have posted on this thread and are in the business of owning property rentals.
If you are looking for cash flow then I am curious as to why you would buy a condo rental in San Diego at all. Don’t get me wrong, as prices have fallen there are cash flow opportunities. Yet if you are really serious about making money then you may want to consider out of state.
IMO you should be concerned with the HOA of any complex, regardless of if it is a conversion or not. If the building is a newer building, within 10 years old, then prepare for a possible lawsuit against the builder due to construction defects. This may or may not affect the HOA but it is commonplace for large developments.
You should definitely have all of expenses and anticipated costs mapped out in a spreadsheet and ahead of even looking at a property you should be able to give accurate cash flow forecasts based on your estimates of occupancy, and all other factors.
How you hold the rental, LLC or SCORP, in or out of a trust etc, are important factors but in essence these are necessary expenses that you will need to log and keep track of.
