If investing solo most do not have $30-50k a year to buy houses as well as one property making a net income of around $5k/year (i.e. based on your numbers) will take close to 8-10 years to generate the revenue you need exclusively to purchase the next property.

Have a notebook exclusively for this -digital or physical-, and carry it everywhere.

I am curious on others' opinions regarding introducing themselves to new professionals in a market you want to invest in, whether that is a broker, property management company, etc.Do you all rely exclusively on a mutual introduction before reaching out or is it still professional to send an email or call someone that you've read about that you may be interested in working with?

Second, You're already done a sec 121 primary residence exclusion in the last two years. 

However, the years 2012-2014 are a period of nonqualified use since the home was not principal residence during those years Period of nonqualified use3 yearsTotal ownership period6 yearsTotal gain($350,000 − $200,000)$150,000Nonexcludable gain(3/6 × $150,000)75,000You must report a $75,000 gain for non-qualified use.The remaining $75,000 ($150,000 − $75,000) of gain can be excluded under 500k exclusion because you meet the two-year ownership and use tests for the home and has not excluded another gain in the previous two years.

As long as you lived in it for 2 of the last 5 years, and qualify for the capital gains exclusion I think you did Great!

I am a local real estate agent, looking for a group on investors i can send my deals to exclusively.

Maybe junior agents at firms with a side hustle.The big players time is money so will only spend time on those sellers who will give exclusives.

You run test ads a number of places, You run them on craiglist, facebook market places, bandit signs, newspaper, anywhere local people will see the ad really. 

If the QOF investment is held for longer than 5 years, there is a 10% exclusion of the deferred gain.