On the other hand you can get cheap properties and the 2% rule (purchase price to rent ratio) can be achieved.

Once I did that, and saw that the tenant was paying my mortgage and more, it really motivated me to save and save for the next one.I am local here to Temecula/ Murrieta as well and am very happy with my properties here.  

Are there other sites to scour for potential motivated seller leads?

I looked at some sites to find motivated sellers but that voice inside that told me to just go out there.

I was pulling together 1098s so I can do 2015 taxes (normally I like to procrastinate, but this year I'm trying to refi some things so I'm motivated), and I noticed I got an escrow bill for nearly a thousand bucks.What happened was my insurance on a rental got canceled because the mortgage company had a paperwork screwup and didn't send in the payment in time (even though they had the money in escrow specifically for that).

I do have a motivated seller and the asking price is down to the tax assessed value of $145.

At the end of the day the investor is looking to achieve maximum profits with minimal risk..., that is where that $10 comes into play. 

So by then, we were motivated but we knew we still needed to figure out a plan to acquire our first deal. 

There does seem to be a lot of good content on this website and the people here seem very motivated to help each other.

Given the fluctuations and difficulties of all markets, I am able to reassess and modify certain objectives, to ensure they are achieved successfully.