It costs me $1,500 to evict a tenant with it usually taking two-three months.

Pair that with going to real estate investor meetups and you will start your journey.

How many mortgage lenders have you spoken with to get qualified and discuss allowable down payment options?

Talk with the HOA.

My wife and I have obtained three traditional loans and one lease with the option to purchase, resulting in most banks turning us down based on debt to income (non-portfolio lenders). 

There is a lawsuit from a company that invested in a deal with someone on BP (not this group) who ironically changed the name of their company after multiple failed deals) that is suing the GP and people personally for negligence because the sponsor did not do what they said they were going to do.

Even though I'm a big guy I bring a second person (my wife or friend) with me to talk to my tenants when I'm going to have a hard conversation.  

I reached out to them to schedule a chat, see if they deliver.

Don't spend your time with other agents as a focus. 

And end of year actuals never pencil out like the spreadsheet...I'm not saying that it's a bad idea; I would just urge you to proceed with extreme caution.