Sorry for the confusion - "title" = a couple different title websites.  

First I start in LA but then can't find anything that makes sense as its highly competitive strong tenant rental control rights, etc.

Strategic Location: Ellenwood is a growing market with high demand for renovated properties.

Some criteria to consider when evaluating a market are:- school districts-crime rate- job/population growth  If the crime is low, schools are reputable, and job/population growth are steady/high, chances are you are looking in the right markets. 

I understand Zillow gives estimates and is not always accurate, however,  I've confirmed numbers through the county Appraiser website.

@Eli Joffe the most general but applicable advice in your situation is to start focusing on high cash-flow properties with low equity growth potential in the beginning in order to have the cash to boot strap.Once you have a few properties under your belt, then start phasing in nicer homes which tend to be lower cash-flow with higher equity growth potentialThe former helps you boot-strap using more labor and the latter helps build wealth more passively and with less tenant struggles.

I'd like to try to get at least one more evaluation so if anyone has a property management company they highly recommend, that info would be much appreciated.

USBank has one of the best rates for high yield savings.

Have had it happen in personal houses before, it was usually due to humidity in cities with high, high humidity. 

I find that if you go with a quality washable paint, you can get marks off with a magic eraser.