4) Following this process, what are the biggest hazards I would still be exposed to?

OC is really expensive and I am afraid that your saving and income will be quite challenging for you to qualify for buy and hold.

Real Estate in different areas can be challenging.

I would say the biggest issues they face are matters of trust and also providing quality property management.

I think my biggest fear is not knowing where to begin.

This would be a challenge for me because I manage it all myself, and do all the work myself.

My biggest concern would be that if you focus on the roadblocks, that is all you will see.I'd encourage you to focus on the ways you can make money in real estate.   

You don't wan to be out there spinning your wheels for no reason.As an investor, and investor's agent myself, I've found my biggest value add is being able to develop a fairly accurate scope of work for the investor when walking a property before having contractors out. 

This biggest fear is just being new to the investment side of the industry. 

I think you've received some good answers so far but I think the biggest issue always sits with constructing the cap-rate to begin with.