Get in touch with a few of them and pick whoever you like the most. 

I'd include a portion (or all) of the $15K in Renos (you can pick things that make sense).  

I went the pre-foreclosure route and picked up a few bank owned as well.

We picked this lock because it has a seal on both sides and the humidity in my market was frying the other locks.We use IGMS for the management and have tested Pricelabs but didn’t have good results with them.

You can't know for sure that there is discrimination going on even though you are accusing everyone of this.The Landlord has every right to pick the most qualified candidate.

Most cities have someone on call, and even if they don't pick up, they usually do call you back shortly.

If you want to be an investor then pick a market and get going buying properties. 

If you pick the right property and location you should be able to do better than 50% occupancy.Look at the top properties and see what they are doing to be successful. 

Once you have this team in place, you should be able to confidently invest in any market.As for picking a specific market - I would go after one with an increasing job and population growth.

Between the two, they pick up most everything.