At this point, I'm not so concerned about achieving that exactly, but if my REI journey takes me there on my way to (or even after) financial freedom, then I'm all for it.There's still some work to do to prepare financially for "the first deal" and that moment legitimately appears to be about 2 years away. 

So as a newer person in an area if you want a lot of bids before you close you'll normally end up with the more expensive guys or the ones that don't have work at the moment (usually for a reason).

Huntsville, AL is my #1 at the moment, followed by Augusta, GA.

So focus on lead generation.Once you have that covered, then yes you do need to have a bit of insight on the workings of the transaction.But all this should be easy to figure out the moment you keep commonsense in play.Start with getting in touch with a wholesaler-friendly attorney for your closings (if you are in an attorney state), and build a relationship with him (that is also what I did)..He should guide you along the way as you go.

I did a search on my own  to help them find it and I can't find any insurance companies offering quotes for the Los Angeles area at the moment.

This may be controversial but it seems like you would be saving a lot of money at the moment given your reduced living costs.

I am heavily invested into the stock market at the moment (Index Funds).

I looked into it and at the moment won't qualify OHFA, but I did see that a new program is starting up in CH next month.

In my area a house call for locksmith is going to cost $75-100 just to walk in the door, so $135 all in is not that big a deal.Not a hill I want to die on....... use it as a learning moment for the tenant- ALL repairs need to be approved by you BEFORE they are done.

That’s where our design team truly shines.