. - they have 3 local and 3 out of state long term rentals.- the 3 local need a lot of work, she has been cutting rent due to not having updated flooring, appliances, etc.

For starters, tune in to the BiggerPockets podcast and connect with local lenders and brokers.

I am looking to get into tax liens locally for commercial properties, Chicago metro area only for now.

Better to make connections on here or a local real estate group. 

I am a local agent here in SLO and also own an investment property in the area.

BRRRR is hard enough if you are local, IDK how some people do this remotely.

Local Market: Investing in your local market can be advantageous because you're familiar with the area, which can make property management easier.

I am also trying to replace my salary with cash flow so that I can just spend my day teaching people how to fly at my local airport. 

Upon seeing this name again, I looked it up online and found that the person it belonged to had a number of articles from our local news station for a number of crimes, to include forgery, identity theft, impersonation, etc. 

Find a local meetup, REIA, or group teaching how to run the numbers.