I have about 8K to start investing, which I know is not a lot, but with 3 kids living in SoCal, we are already pinching pennies. 

Same as insurance why call John Doe's insurance shop down the road when you can call StateFarm for example and save money directly.

If so, how was the experience ? 

Look for motivated sellers off market and market via cold calling and or direct mail, geofencing, advertising and the like.A good wholesaler is as @Ericka Parrott mentioned, direct to seller, did good underwriting and can deliver an actual "Deal" whether buy and hold or flip. 

I negotiate at 70% ARV so the deals I bring are solid and I'd love to work with one single corporate cash buyer that is able to close  on several deals a month.

So I see NO conflict personally.

Another option that requires more legwork is to call the servicer/ producer of the inverter.

So, if you create an LLC in another state, you will likely need to register it as a foreign LLC in California.

Would that be, for example, if the PM says, "I manage a duplex for John Smith in Turlock," then I call John as a reference, ask John a few questions, and then ask John the address of his duplex so I can later look it up on the county website and verify if he is the owner?

I have the Pro plan so it integrates with my August smart lock.