I give 25% upside to home field advantage, meaning the property is local, I know the streets/neighbors, and I can see it touch it smell it any time of the day. 

You're getting ready to take on the challenging field of real estate development, which is brave of you, my friend!

But nowadays, it often seems that's all there is in the way of new blood in the field.

I am in the medical field and want to dip my hands into real estate.  

And, if you want to really see how LPs feel in a non public environment, there’s an “LP only” forum on Left Field Investors that discussed “red flag” sponsors that investors won’t work with again. 

Just curious if anyone has any experience getting into real estate investing via becoming a home inspector and kind of grasping the field.

This entails building personal/working relationships with people successful in the field.

Can anyone recommend a third party phone/answering service that can field and respond to maintenance requests from tenants?

It levels the playing field for sellers, like myself. 

I've been involved in the construction field for over 30 years and started my own construction company in 2008 when I also started flipping houses. 8 years ago I sold the construction company and began buying and holding long term rentals.