This fact alone is leading me to believe that I should convert my condo to a corporate rental.

No need to highlight that I never should have signed--I am aware and there is a HUGE back story as to why I did that is not significant to the question at hand.Due to frequent flooding, we were planning to have an overhead sewer line installed, as well as a sump pit for the basement plumbing, an ejector pit for the upstairs/exterior water that was leading to the flooding, and tying in the downspouts to the mainline at the front exterior of the house underground.The project, which was estimated to last about 15-20 days, took more like 10-11 full days.

Hi there, I was walking around looking for distressed properties using the info I learned from these forums and identified a target.Then I went online to the property appraisers and found the property - BINGO!

I would recommend having amazing looking pictures and possibly having a website to generate your own leads.  

One of the methods they discussed was finding leads for people who are already investing in real estate.

It's affordable (even now), researching it online is easy, the people/culture fits my personality, and travel is a breeze from the bay area. 

You are going to be spending money on marketing, traveling, clothes and potential leads/clients. 

They have an online application that you can customize and can do the screenings through their site.

But the things I don't know is how to be a good investor or how to generate leads or what contract to use or how this business even works...

Please PM if you are interested or have a lead for a good company/individual.