(See section 5 of the Articles).

Also I read an article recently about the increased rate of some of the older generation passing away or moving into assisted living/retirement homes and how it could leave homes empty.

I have started by reading numerous books, but I lack a personal network to bounce ideas off of, learn from, etc. 

Just search the numerous threads for "appreciation vs cash flow" for reams of information on this (admittedly) far ranging topic.

There are definitely some things I would do differently understanding things like sponsor fees, etc.CrowdStreet has a good article https://www.crowdstreet.com/education/article/real... on the two models

Nice article, very inspiring. http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Hard-work-...

There's probably podcasts, blog posts and other articles about how to find deals which are not yet listed.With your work situation, I'd be looking into learning how to attract and engage private lenders.

Are there article said to look up the listing agents history, they may have multiple Reos, and you can  Study the list and sold price to  get an idea about how much the price might move.  

@Jared Shackelford I just read the following blog article from Ben Leybovich that made me think about your situation.

Be sure to read the show notes.https://moneyfortherestofus.net/mny044-mortgages/The second easy lesson for you is an 8 minute Youtube clip and you can read the same article on the other link to better understand the info.https://www.youtube.com/watch?