Can I give them keywords to look for to get a wider pool of motivated sellers?

Just a possible heads up.Regarding concreting the whole floor, I've seen one of these in the east that every so many years would fill up with water almost to ground level depending on the water table.A built in swimming pool of sorts.Then after about a week the water would drain out, via the dirt/mud floor part.Good Luck!

Do you find that there is a strong pool of tenants in Kettering OH?

Beyond that I would say pick a strategy and jump into the deep end of the pool and start swimming. 

Not all buyers are willing to do this though, so it limits your buyer pool to a certain extent.

We expect this growth—attributed to Texas’ business-friendly environment paired with Austin’s deep talent pool—will continue through 2021.

With family money or close friends you can just pool funds and let the interest acrue, just send statements with the new balance including dividends.The more formal version is similar to a bank loan, the lender gets a lien on the property, monthly payments of interest only and a balloon at the end.

Even the nice neighborhood across the street from mine goes for more than mine, but it has a neighborhood pool and seems to be really popular with young families who want to be a little closer to the elementary school. 

Tenants usually like the amenities included such as parks, pools, gyms.4.

Here are some things that may help getting started:Do some research in the market you plan to gather contracts in (Driving for $$$, skip tracing, Redfin fixer-uppers)Source a pool of cash buyers.