Regardless of what is going to happen, I'm ok with leaving it in God's control.To your point, this prediction creates a high sense of urgency for me to get in the game and start turning properties.

There were a bunch of children playing in the street, which I take as a good sign, but I ended up passing on it because the surrounding area just seemed so run down.

Romica, using hard money is definitely okay, but all experienced investors graduate to private money eventually (if they stay in the game).

I currently live in Southern Ca and looking to jump into this game next year.

Corpus is also getting a boost from the Eagle Ford Shale play, so there is resource based jobs coming in the area that cannot be off shored.

Have you played the board game?

If it's under 15 I would just encourage going to the the chrome/play store and goggling CRM or taking up @Kenneth Estes advice.

If you want to stick with your original plan/question why not just find a good Realtor in your area that currently runs property management and move slow - acquire nice properties and play it safe staying within your metrics.

Play it safe take rental comps into careful consideration to estimate your rents/timeframe.

You have to keep your head in the game and stay FOCUSed.