Circa 2005-2006 I built a couple of spec houses and made a few bucks not really knowing much.

I have been reading as much as possible on REI for a couple months now (Larry Loftis - Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads, McElroy - ABC's of RE, Lindahl - Multi-Family Millions, Gallinelli - What Every REI Needs to Know About Cash Flow).

I will be visiting them the next couple week and looking to review properties.

Not sure why you would pass on potential good tenants because you don't want to pay out a couple of hundred dollars.  

I am starting from ground zero, but I've envisioned owning a couple of  vacation rentals and longer term rentals.

We also have made partnerships with a couple of real estate agents acquainted with investing. 

In your ad you can't say that this property is close to "The So-and-So Church", or "Perfect for couples" or anything else that would show that you are targeting a certain type of people.I specify that income must be at least 3x that of the rent, and since my rent is on the higher end, I usually get better people wanting to apply. 

I don't think that spell check has been removed - there are a couple of great ways to use software to make yourself appear smarter than you are.My favorite is Grammarly - it checks your spelling and capitalization/punctuation.

https://www.tobenerlaw.com/oakland-rent-control/And the city's rules and regs:http://rapwp.oaklandnet.com/resources/faq/I'll be in Seattle for the next couple weeks, but hope to meet you in person when I get back or at the Summit :)

They came to me a couple years after they had lost their home to foreclosure.