I've lived in the PNW for 25 years, but I'm hoping to start building a rental portfolio in my hometown of Lexington, KY.

I'd start by searching the forums here for "section 8" related threads.

What are the essential first steps I should take to start this business from scratch?

You might want to consider starting a marketing campaign or partner with someone doing a marketing campaign so you can identify properties that really are below market.

Where do I start?

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

I did start with lower prices to be competitive and get reviews at first.

It even spurned me to start my own group which expanded into 5 states, 6 cities, and over 8,000 members.

I recently bought a flip house and upon starting on the house I was shocked when we had no water.The neighbor of the property was sharing his well with the house, he and the deceased owner had a verbal agreement, nothing was filed. 

I have also seen a lot of negative posts on here lately about the real estate industry so just need some assurance this is still a good route to go.This is also one of the first properties I’ve toured so I don’t want to jump too soon but I also don’t want to miss out on a good deal.