Over the years, we have built quite a network of agents that bring us quality off market properties in the areas that we desire.

Brian,All good stuff sounds like your building a Good Network and team. 

If your looking to network, we would be interested.

If you don't have a content deliver network to show why people should come to your rural region, you might have a much more difficult time.

A PMC is the ONLY one that will deal daily with your property.Here's some copy & paste advice on hwo to screen PMCs:Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Finally, network with other investors and start small to gain experience.

Seller financing can be a fantastic way to get into a 4+ unit property, especially in a competitive market like Chicago.Have you started reaching out to owners directly or networking with agents who specialize in multifamily properties?

Hey Elizabeth, this is a great site to network.

It is critical to build a network, and not to just buy a property off Zillow and turn it over to people you've never met.Also, there are a lot of mentions of 'cash flow' in this thread. 

Maybe you want to attend real estate conferences or join more real estate groups to expand your network.