I’ve recently come across a good off market distressed property in my area.

If you find a distressed owner you can work with them. 

But my primary objective (MISSION) is to HELP those who are in 'distress...' or otherwise can't buy a home, or resell due to minimal equity, etc. so they don't end- up bankrupt, in foreclosure, or doing a short- sale, etc."

I would NOT play in this field, unless you were LOCAL and new all the in's and outs of buying and selling distressed homes HERE. 

I think the key is he keeps saying "buy at distressed prices", "30 year mortgage" and "fine renters"I see a lot of websites (usually wholesalers or agents) posting this quote as a way to convince readers they should hurry up and buy a property because Buffett says he would buy SFRs, but they don't mention he also has the above 3 caveats.

But Driving for dollars actually means driving around in neighborhoods that you think you might like to purchase a home and looking for potential signs of distress.

Welcome, @Brynn HatchSoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners across LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

I buy distressed properties, so normally a majority of the distress comes from the landlords relaxed attitude towards letting anyone in who has first months rent in hand.

We provide title insurance all the time in connection with transfers such as foreclosures where the sellers refuse to give any warranties at all or distress sales where any warranties would be worthless.  

None of the properties are distressed but could all use a bit of work.