On the North end people don't even want to come to do repairs and no one is willing to manage it, cause it is supposedly the wild west, though I haven't encountered any problems there yet (knock on wood). 

We have been debating between staying in our studio apartment to continue to knock out this debt or buying a home.

Before I had tried to focus on pickinga product (i.e. residential vs. commercial) and then diddeep research on the market direction (thinking I was smart)and was WRONG when macro knocked me out into the hospital.But I'm older and jaded hopefully wise, and am selling everything,going All-in to digital social media.

Knock on the door?

at some point, maybe getting an attorney to knock on the HOA's door may bring enough attention to them to act, and your home value is at risk of decreasing with the meth contamination next door.also, consider buying them out! 

I made business cards and went door knocking on houses that were going through pre foreclosure, one guy was interested in selling me his house, I did some research in the neighborhoods prices before I started, this guy would sell me his house for 40k, worth about 90k after only 5k of repairs since im a handyman and can do a lot myself.after I left his house after the deal was made, I was unsure of the next steps I have to go through to buy the house, do I contact a realtor now and tell him I want to buy this house and the owner agreed to this much?

Just hang out near the drywall section, or ask a passerby if they would be interested in knocking out a quick weekend job.

You can also start walking your dog in the neighborhood you're looking to invest in, or better yet, you can start knocking on doors and asking people that live there how it is.

Drive for dollars, track down owners, and door knock.

Not Knocking flipping at all, when the market is hot you can make some serious cash but for my own stress levels and ability to manage, I personally PREFER rentals.Any thoughts on this?