so i currently help out with a friends rehab. the house has had some problems that we have fixed including paint work inside and outside, knocking down a wood garage in the back to create a new lot, plumbing leaks, electrical work, baseboards for heating.I have been very hands on, doing painting myself, finding multipe people to quote each job needed, knocking down the garage myself with a sledge hammer and also cutting trees myself with a chainsaw.i have noticed that some things are 1000x cheaper for me to do myself. for example i had a quote on how much it would cost to take some small trees down, the contractor wanted 100$ a tree, the total would of been 5k plus, so i went and bought a chainsaw and did it all for under 200.another example, I wanted some base boards replacing on one of the bottom floors, one plumber quoted $6,500 another quoted $1,600. now its easy for me to save money this way as this is only one building, so for you guys that have 50+ units, what measures are you taking to make sure that you're not being had by these contractors quoting crazy high prices?

I would aim for returns higher than 5% depending how much risk you want to take.  

I aim to (eventually) replace my working income with rental income.

So it will be hard to get consistent numbers that are measurable to the renter.Then there is the fact that the panels on the roof are just another thing that can break/leak/blow away/get stolen/god knows what else.

I'm definitely aiming for the 3-6 months professionals. :)

I'm aiming to become a multifamily investor here in San Diego so I'm constantly researching deals on a daily basis.

What types of brokerages should I aim to find to get started?

(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time based) goal that puts the ideas to paper and defines a path to get there, this must be written down.Where they want to do their deal is good to think about, and obviously critical to decide on in order to get the first deal. 

@Chuck A. -  Im not in indiana, but as far as in the state of GA -  i have never heard of needing a license to manage your own properties.  

Current Criteria (Treating First Home / Primary Residence as an Investment Property):SFH / Town Home; Beds: 2-4; Baths: 2-3; Sq/Ft: 1000min; Price: $200-250,000; Class B min; Aiming for 1% Rule; Understandably, a lot of my expense criteria will be dependent on the the price of the home and rent rate (Cap Ex: ~8-10%, Repairs:~ 5%; HOA Fees: <$150; Vacancy: ~6-8%, etc.)Currently In Howard County I'm looking at Elliott City, Eldridge, and Columbia through your typical online sites (Realtor.com, Zillow, Redfin, etc.)