Yes market seems much different these days on the acquisition side via regular chanels MLS etc. but the upside is if you are able to find right deals ARV's-retail market sales and profit margins are great.

:1)Find an investor who would double as a source of money for down payment and a cosigner2)Use an FHA loan (3.5% down if I live in a unit) to buy a quad-plex3)Use the 203k aspect of the loan to improve the quad-plex and force appreciation in the property4)Refinance in a year or two to a regular loan and pull equity out to either pay off my outside investor or use equity for another down payment on another quad-plex5)Repeat With this plan, I believe I will be able to cash flow from day one because I will be able to rent out three units to college students around campus who are willing to pay higher rents than most.

Since you're in Orlando, have you considered renting the rooms via airbnb (short term) instead of regular leases?

However, there are so many "exceptions" built into the mandate, that local towns regularly exceed the cap. 

Every single deal that happens goes through these people, find the ones that work with investors regularly and they have the contacts to share your deal..  

You want these guys, they work regularly (can maintain an account with their vendor for the best pricing) and do quality work with quality materials.

If you keep failing  after you offer you might have to go elsewhere and budget for property management that is experienced and who you can trust and call regularly to ask how it is going so you do not have to do a bunch of traveling.If you have got to travel, you should consider the bigger towns in Texas.  

I'm hoping to find a group that meets regularly in our area.

If you fear I infringed on the intellectual property rights of others, I assure you, the model home attendant welcomed me to get any design ideas I wanted and to take pictures; and was quite aware that I was not there to buy---they convert lookers to buyers on a regular basis.  

I could sell motivated leads to Whole Sale agents and people considering to regular agents/brokers.