The brick is pulling apart in what appears to be a staircase pattern.

I start with researching the areas (no bad areas), migration patterns, and whether there’s more renters or owners in the area and what else is around me such as amenities/schools.I’ve started buying a little farther away from my target market by following the “path of progression”, county or city growth.

@Adam Kuszczak most major metro cities will follow the same pattern...the "inner city" will be largely original housing stock...late 1800s to mid 1900's...developments typical radiate from the city center with age...so, 1950's through 1980's built properties are usually 3-5 miles from city center with the newest concentration of properties outside of interstate bypasses (usually forming a circle or partial circle around metro areas)...there is infill building and exceptions to these rules, but property age will be your #1 determining factor of where the properties you are targeting will be located.Building materials and methods of construction (along with codes) were very different from one decade to the next, but homes are surprisingly sturdy and most anything can be fixed.

You wait until they establish a pattern of responsibility (paying rent on time) of at least 8 months before you give them a break...and only one break...and you let them know that this is the only time this will happen. 

Seeing the development taking place within the city of Lake Elsinore and noticing a pattern of big money investors closing in on mult family zoned land in the historic district How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I am curious as to how or if Zillow buying patterns has changed the way you compy properties?

Ultimately, we'd keep repeating this pattern until the project was built out and fully rented, essentially using the BRRRR strategy with new construction. 

The pattern is that real estate values in desirable areas gravitate up (or down) towards those new limits on who gets a gov't subsidized interest rate with only 5% down as the new year kicks off, through the summer, and so on.TLDR: Yeah, we're just skipping the down cycle we "should" otherwise be in right now.

when they pay late, the court will view that as their new payment date since you set a pattern of accepting it after the 1st.

You can do laminate / Formica counter tops inexpensively and there are beautiful patterns - some look like marble or granite.