Willing to customize to tenant desires FOR A PRICE. obviously, some of the above is accomplished by the particular property you purchased; some by repairs, maintenance and improvements, and some by ongoing service commitment.   

I haven't had a client who has purchased investments in lawton in a while.

You are interested in a certain market to use the BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat) method to purchase property.To find these properties, you asked how many Realtors you would contact in that area.Honestly, most Realtors do not speak investor language and are not investors themselves.

A home equity loan seems like a possible way to expand my portfolio, would consider buying a multifamily and renting out our current home to live in one of the units and purchase it as a primary home (assuming its 4 units or less), but being in the Santa Cruz CA area, I am afraid I'll need to look outside of CA for any deal that makes sense, and can't afford to lose my great job (can't work remotely).  

The lease I had before, I purchased from RentPrep, and I really like it because it covers so many things.

However, I do know 2 investors who have purchased 70+ unit properties via seller outreach, but it takes time.

When running your numbers, if purchasing a home that isn't new construction and less than $1MM, I would estimate 1% - 1.2% of the purchase price as your annual insurance premium. 

I have recently started writing down addresses of run down or abandoned properties that I would like to purchase, but I only have the owner's name.

We put 100% of the purchase price per the contract into escrow 2 days before closing.5.

I live in San Diego and am trying to purchase my first investment property I have about 150K to put down but am struggling to find deals that meet my price point.