I live in Chicago and have investments in California and Illinois.

hahaI am a Chicago General Contractor...do you have any tips we might be able to implement to find quality subcontractors? 

Baltimore no telling how many but its got to be 10k  and philly same way chicago every city.. the issue is clearly as Mathew states . 

I did find a couple of investor friendly insurer options on this site so hopefully that bears a couple good options.

It's a full service banking platform - just like you'd have at any other bank with interest bearing accounts, the ability to set up multiple accounts and sub-accounts, issue virtual credit cards and more.  

Same goes for number of LLCs and what to fund them with, since bear in mind that CA tends to be more cumbersome and expensive to have LLCs than other states.California is generally more cumbersome than other states when it comes to taxes and filings.

Security deposits require separate handling - they should be placed in an interest-bearing account.3.

That may make a difference...Plus, adding some keywords (for me, I always add Chicago or surrounding suburbs) to your post will help get the right investors on it to give you the right advice.

Also, your classification of the property as a rental has no bearing on the fact that you should be tracking your basis. 

Right now buying is the hard part, but you know you won't have to worry much about selling.You are lucky to be in the Midwest, Chicago RE did not look good a few years ago, that has really turned around.