As you stated this is a high caliber investment site, and I would like the opinion of high caliber investors who have done this before.

I detail a lot of this in my podcast I have been hosting for 7 years called The Investors Guide to Memphis Real Estate. 

I am not yet a real estate professional/investor but that is my goal in the next year.

So if the landlord only owns one four-plex, or two duplexes, or a single and triplex, and the landlord is a natural person (not a corporation or partnership), or the landlord is an LLC in which all members are natural persons (no corporate or partnership members in the LLC), the landlord can still require two month’s rent as security deposit.So for those CA investors who invest in properties with four rentals or less, and place each rental property into its own LLC, and the LLC members are all natural persons, those investors can continue to require two month’s rent as security deposit.

I don't have a network of investors I am part of, and honestly I don't think these properties are especially well-suited for an investor.

Never a good idea to tell someone who is advising on this forum that they have mis conceptions about goals.. they are trying to help and may have misconstrued your postAnyway your plan is solid and I think you will will get there alone or using a  Joint  Venture investor  for sure

Tough neighborhoods still, but plenty of fixer uppers and low cost plots make it ideal for scrappy individual investors looking to get started on the cheap.

Would love to get connected with as many real estate investors/wholesaler around the Akron/Canton area as possible.

It's on YOU to validate and be confident in everything - ARV, monthly rent, quality of neighborhood. 

I have spent a lot of time on the phone with them and they genuinely want to improve what they are offering for investors.