Thanks for any tips!

David Greene’s Long Distance Real Estate Investing is great introductory material to get started. 

Brandon Turner and David Green talk about 7 ways to get into real estate. 

I suggest you read David Greene's book on long distance real estate investing. 

As experienced self-directed investor @Larry F. gave you some good tips, and it seems that you did a good job educating yourself.As a real estate agent and notary you are considered to be self-employed, therefor qualify for truly self-directed Solo 401k plan.

Do you have any tips/recommendations on minimizing risk/avoiding these types of people? 

One suggests converting into mini splits for reasons 1. units already wired for electricity heating and lots of work have been done2. mini splits are more energy efficient than current system3. it provides air conditioning in summer which would be attractive to tenantsAnother suggests going back to boiler because electricity is just too expensive.

Thanks for the tips!

Any advice, tips or inputs are welcome.

There are 3 of San Diego’s finest hospitals with walking distance (Green, Scripps & UCSD).