The best place to begin is to purchase a course in how to invest in real estate, for the very reason you asked; "Where do I begin?'" 

Looking for a reasonably priced contractor in Stockton area in CA.

@Eric Patrick Oden, that approach works however the difficulty lies in selling 30 POH for $10,000 cash (or even $5,000) to potential tenants in a reasonable amount of time.

What is the reason for the Lease and Option?

I believe we have a long way to go to catch up in terms of both student rental housing prices and student rent rates (some students are still paying $200/bedroom).For these reasons, I believe investors can make a bigger profit with less risk investing here in Windsor.  

I have won bids on Auction.com but backed out for various reasons.

The reason for my post today is not only to introduce myself and get to know some of the other investors, but to also get some feedback from the BiggerPockets Community in buying long-term buy and hold in a hot market.

Greetings @Rick RoblesIf you know you want to scale your business after a few years into buying larger properties, there really is not good reason to wait. 

I reasoned that since I have never made a late payment and the bank made good money every time I used the balance transfers, they would be happy to reconsider.

This is one of the primary reasons that I am still self managing my 32 doors locally in the Berwyn and Lyons area here in Illinois.