I'm currently paying a mortgage on my first home but looking to find a cash flow property somewhere within an hour or so from home (not afraid to do work in LA either since we're frequently down there anyway). 

Frequently a "title company" acts as both an escrow company and title agent and you probably should seek one who does both.

@Denver McClure works frequently with clients in your line of work so it might be beneficial to connect with him.  

What worked really well for me was to attend 1 -2  real estate events as a lot of investors, buyers, brokers, etc. frequent these events and can intro you to the right person to offload your deal (if there's enough meat on the bones for them!)

We have a list of small business frequently asked questions available at: http://dfi.wa.gov/sd/smallbusinessfaq.htm.

One of the owners of the contractor that shops with us frequently has a couple rental properties, and he’s been tossing around the idea of getting away from the residential rental space.

. - Taxpayers kept 0 time logs but were able to show they traveled to renovate the properties quite frequently. 

I frequently get the question from sellers where are you?

Frequently, but not always, the water issues are solved with gutters and proper drainage.

Like other said it's very important to buy in the right area and make sure you have a property manager who you can trust and communicates with you frequently and answers any questions you may have.