Once I've got tenants and the dust has settled, I go to bank B and get a loan to pay bank A back, but I've got the equity from the money borrowed from bank A originally and the work put into the duplex?

I've narrowed it down to sfh that are delinquent.

@Pat McGrath The reason my search has narrowed down to Woodland is because I grew up there and became really familiar with the entire city as well as home values - I guess I started focusing too much on that area only. 

For example, if you want to buy single family ranges in a particular town, that narrows the search down and then you can move on onto step 3Step 3: Find contact info for every one of these people: cell phone, home phone, emails, social media profile, home address, etcStep 4: Put the information into a database: I like using a CRM like Follow Up Boss, but you can use an excel sheet to startStep 5: Market to these people: call(on a dialer), email, message on social media, door knock, mail, etc. until you get one on one appointments with themStep 6: Make offers that allow you enough room to make moneyEven as a brand new investor, you do not have to have money to do these deals.

There is everything from the inner city war zone, to up and comming hip areas, to established B and C class neighborhoods with or without good schools and price ranges anywhere you want them.

Similarly, if you either need or want to have a lot of hands-on control, that further narrows your focus.You're already doing the right thing, read up, ask questions.

I use the triple check method when dealing with out of state purchases. 1 - Check with property management companies and ask them for Investor friendly Realtors. 2 - Check with Realtors and ask for property management companies. 3 - Call Contractors/Inspectors and ask which Realtors & Property Management Companies work with investors.What I've found is that after I spoke with multiple Realtors, Property Managers and Contractors, I would start hearing common names and automatically narrow down my search for who knew the area and had experience working with investors. 

Once you get your head around your best REI options, you can narrow your focus - if you see someone on a forum who know's their stuff, reach out via PM to see if they'll answer some specific questions for you.

Narrow your focus by what you find out then see if it meets standards for, cash for purchase, monthly expenses, income or equity.

Also, check out realestate.com and type in your zip code and narrow down your search for beds/bath, etc and this will give you an good idea.