We stay in contact with this agent and I guess she made a couple of verbal offers for us after the agreement had expired. 

My passion lies in expanding my portfolio of long-term rentals and diving into property flipping as I grow in this journey.My main goals are to connect with like-minded investors and professionals, share experiences, and soak up as much knowledge as I can from this incredible community.If you’re based in Georgia or working on similar projects, I’d love to connect and hear about your journey!

If you don't have the relationships, hire someone who does.This is why Brian Burke can go “large corporate” while I have to stay “small private”; he has the ability to MANAGE PEOPLE that I do not.  

I am considering getting into this space (looking at some courses), but worried that its too late, and that deep local market knowledge/understanding of buyers/connection with developers etc is required to make this work, which only incumbent/long term investors will have and would be hard for a new entrant starting from scratch to catch-up...is my hypothesis valid in your opinion ?

Adding the real estate investment and management concentration could definitely be worth it if it gives you solid knowledge and good networking opportunities.

Investors will want to work with you if you are knowledgeable, can find deals and have connection with vendors.

Way way too often Mrs. wants to stay, but realistically can't afford to stay with one income....and it is just a downhill disaster finacially the longer they stay.   

He bought a home for himself in Lodi California but work in the Bay Area long story short he can’t deal with the commute anymore and decide to stay with a buddy close to work.

Or you may notice that all the $2,500 houses are listed week after week - meaning they aren't rented - while all the $2,100 houses disappear within days.I recommend investors review their market at least once a month, even when your rentals are occupied, to ensure you stay current on what the market is doing.

We have a few markets we target outside of California, but obviously if you want to stay close to home, Sacramento would be an ideal choice.