Good news is you have a previous owners track record to give you a little foreshadowing into what worked for them and how to build from their wins and fails.

The property is a 6-unit building in Los Angeles.Given the significant difference in current rents vs. market rates, I'm looking for advice on how to legally and ethically approach raising the rents to reflect market value, should I decide to move forward with the purchase.Some additional context: even if I were to negotiate a better (reasonable) price and were to successfully evict a tenant who is 5 months behind on their rent and charge the market rent for that unit I'd still be -$600/month. 

I'd probably wanna cash out refinance, and only pull out the 10% I put into the building, but thats really it.

If there are agents that are receptive, invite them to coffee or a lunch and build those relationships. 

Build a small location with a resident managers home. 

I found someone, who I trust, who wants to partner up because she has been wanting to invest in this building herself and she wants to bring all of the cash for the renovation, but also wants to split equity 50/50 (or something along that line, maybe 49/51) since she would not realize any gain until we sell. 

Are you looking to continue to build an OOS portfolio? 

It is an amazing wealth building tool as an inheritance. 

@Matt Roth for mailers there are various list providers that provide different filtering options, absentee owner, by county, state, type/size/class of building etc. 

Here are a few of my questions:- How much money should I save up before starting to invest in properties- Is there a market that would be best for someone such as myself, or is it just personal preference- Do I need to hire people such as agents, contractors, property managers, etc. or will that all be later on once i build up my portfolio- When is the best time to begin purchasing?