Contractors in my area will not even touch them because it's too time consuming to remove and then their left solving whatever the problem was in the first place.  

While the subject property's income will help toward that qualification, you still want to have a couple of years of solid W2 history and a decent FICO, just like if you were applying for an owner-occupied.A good starting point would be to make sure you're credit, consumer debt and income are in order, and then start building a relationship with a broker well in advance of finding a property.

Why is so little is discussed about property management specifics on blogs, websites and podcasts that I have voraciously consumed?

Given my current situation at work (time-consuming), I'm focusing on B area units that are turnkey / require light rehab.I've been running the numbers on a few properties that I've seen and with the estimates I've made, these properties are so far from cashflowing that I'm becoming skeptical if 1) I'm doing this correctly 2) there are actually cashflowing properties in these areasMy main concern is whether my expectations are too high and thus will never pull the trigger unless another '08 happens again. 

So the Cokes and Pepsis of the world can sell direct to other end consumers that then do their own distribution, however they need to sell through their exclusive distributor. 

Of course if your passion for real estate finance is so strong it consumes you, you should go for it.

In my mind this was a more time consuming way to construct a list but you either have time or money and I have time and just a little money.

And remember credit cards for Consumer Debt are not your friend.

Made some $, but I found the procedures to be somewhat cumbersome, time consuming, and capital intensive.  

To convert to a duplex, you need zoning approval, which can be expense and time consuming (and you may not get approval).