Hopefully I get to that point sooner than later 

I agree with parts of an earlier post that you'll need to be more aggressive, sooner, to make it happen, but not with the need for 40 properties.

it's not about how many have already sent out mailings into those areas, it's about the timing. you may have hit them up at the right time when they are absolutely ready. but not just one mailing campaign, you need to be persistent and continue that campaign into that area with every 3 months or sooner depending on activity there, each mailing must have a different message something that shows a benefit and a reason to choose you over others,

It is not that unusual to have some fee associated with renters in an HOA, but it is usually one-time, or each time a renter changes units (to reimburse the PM for their time shuffling paperwork at the condo HOA - a cost that in theory should not be paid by your neighbors because you decided to change tenants..).It is also not unusual for the cost of the facilities (gyms, pools, etc) to be  a part of the the HOA fee, and split equally/pro-rata by unit count/size, etc.

Network, and sooner than you think, you'll be the one answering the above questions to another REI starting out...and with confidence.

Welcome, Derrick.I'm in the exact same boat as you, just a week sooner.

Keep rents at fair market value and you will get there even sooner!

My approach is to use lending to get my positive cash flow deals secured and then use the positive cashflow to pay down the properties as I want to live off the NOI sooner than 30 years.  

I currently live in Los Angeles, but will be moving out of state soon. Eric

On the flip side, if the work gets done sooner and I am paying hourly, then I could save money that way.