Lots of activity on those auctions though and typically get bid up higher then my MAO.I know how to find the owner and contact them directly but what is the process to buying directly from them prior to the auction date?

Latitude Property Management (http://chooselatitude.com/) has excellent reviews and is run by @Neal Collins who is active here on BP. 

Looking at recent activity, there are a lot of properties for sale, almost none for rent, and a lot sales happened in 2017.

The primary requirement is at least one of the owners is required to be an active pilot.The the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (https://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_compliance/re...) resulted in the laws being setup for these types of communities called "Through the fence". 

Congrats on your engagement!

I recently started engaging with a company called Equity and Help, they purchased Equistream.

I've joined a few REIAs and am actively looking for who in the group is doing the most deals and how I can be of service to them. 

Good question Sean, I actively try to sell to my tenants and select tenants in large part based upon their interest in buying and credibility to do so.

I am active duty in the United States Air Force.

A Solo 401(k) is a qualified employer retirement plan, and needs a legitimate business activity with no full time employees to act as a sponsoring employer.You can read all day long on BP and get into paralysis of analysis, as well as digest some less than accurate information on the topic, to be sure.Alternately, you can read up a bit, with the goal of identifying a few professionals in the field, and then get on the phone.