you should take this time to read up on your local landlord tenant laws. i fear a misinformed landlord may try sbady tactics to get you to leave and any kind of "self help" eviction such as changing locks or shutting off utilities is HIGHLY illegal.

That's my biggest fear.

My fear was that people would sense that I was a newbie and reject me.

Don’t let fear stop you! 

Overall, it's never been the nightmare that I feared (crying children, angry mob chasing me, etc.)  

To me it seems like sending letters to 20 houses on a street that are all well kept and not in foreclosure fear would be a waste of funds.

OR you are emotionally fearful, usually do to a misunderstanding or lack of understanding to the actual risk calculation so the default result is to avoid it.

Up until now, I’ve been stalking the forums and absorbing the wealth of knowledge on this site.

That is the fear that you move the equity into a cash flow play, but then instantly lose the equity when the market drops.

but hopefully you can use that fear to make sure you're doing everything right; getting everything in order before you take that step.walk your deals through the experts here first.