First off, the 1% rule is a general rule of thumb that's supposed to help you quickly determine if a rental property is a good deal.

I think this is huge because they are encouraged to renew their leases because of all the work they put into their suite.  

I've finally gotten myself in a position to where I have enough equity to comfortably purchase my first rental. so now, I'm going to start getting more involved and try to learn quickly. 

We move from Alva to OKC this week into a short term rental, which will allow us to look at properties much more quickly than when we were 3 hours away.

Quick introduction about myself and looking for the proper forum to repost my question/situation, below. 

The town is right quick about placing a lien against your property.I had someone suggesting I submeter when I first came in, monthly I could simply go down do the math and submit a bill to my tenants.

The first thing to consider is can you rent the property quickly for more than it is currently rented for. 

I also did a quick search on my fathers license, he has his managing license and in the past has been a managing broker, his is license is listed as 'Employing Level Real Estate Broker - Associate'  .

Attending local BP meet ups is another way to quickly build your network.

There's a lot of great local meet-ups that I'd encourage you to look into.