Worst case, you just cover it yourself and keep good neighbor relations.

If you need to cover utilities, the numbers tighten significantly, making a lower purchase price essential.Let me know if you have any further questions or want to explore these numbers in more detail—I’d be happy to help! 

As for the areas to target, my goal in getting our feet wet as real estate investors--and since we plan to be living in Sac--is to find a property we can live in while renting out one or more units to help cover our housing expenses, which we can then hold and continue to rent out when we move.

Because there are nuances to seller financing, a lot of space would need to be devoted to covering the subject to make sense, and that requires sitting down to a cup of coffee for a long discussion.

I will PM you my rep -- they are in Indianapolis, but if they don't cover your territory, I am sure they can send you contact info for someone. 

However, in the off chance that I am not able to cover my gap funds (est. $200-$300K) from that small circle, how would you recommend I start branching out?

A few things we’ve been thinking about* Appreciation > Cash Flow: We care more about appreciation in a few years as long as cash-flow can cover occasional cap-ex.* Low Hands-on operation: We prefer minimal hands-on engagement.

As far as SingleKey actually paying out on claims for tenant non-payment up to 12 months, property damages up to $10k reimbursed, covering 30 days of vacant property losses and helping out with tenant evictions up to $2k (as advertised), curious if anyone on here can attest to SingleKey actually paying out on these claims successfully.

However I am wondering what I need to have in addition to cover repairs and others things that I may not be considering.Any advice and recommendations would be much appreciated!

It can still qualify if it's a fixer-upper, as long as the rental income from the property can cover the debt service.