I have less than a year left in the Air Force, so a steep task at hand is to gain enough traction in real estate to walk away from the service in 11 months.

They have good rates on rentals and I know they service the KC area as I use them myself.  

Our state lobbyist out of Olympia spoke for a full hour on the socialistic bills and ideas coming out of the city council in Seattle in the Capitol.They are contemplating or have already enacted rules regarding no rent raises when service calls are unresolved, must show cause to terminate a m-m agreement, rent control, 5% capital gains taxes on RE sales (in addition to the 1.7% excise tax), pre-'78 lead inspections, periodic unit inspections, etc.  

Use a realtor to gain access, or if you don't want to consistently depend on someone else, just pay for a MLS service for investors.

Regardless, California landlords will have to be much more vigilant in their tenant vetting process, and not overly dependent on the paid screening services.

If you are replacing the main service as well, they need to pull a temporary pole as noted by @Aaron McGinnis or use a generator.

Looking at a potential real estate investment and I have all the cash flows (after debt service) and anything else I would need I am just lost on a couple of things I am being asked for...

Even if I was able to find someone, I would likely be paying one month's rent for the service, which means thousands of dollars.

If he is legit, then he shouldnt need anything from you up front (maybe a small $100 application fee at most)Use an escrow service.  

This longer life would negate some of the tax benefits that are afforded to owners of residential rental properties (due to the shorter depreciable life on those types of properties), and would most likely cause your rental income to be taxable more often then not, right?