However, the communication from the corporate office appears to be directly from the owner, Michael, who has proactively engaged with me and my associates through a call to address our questions and concerns.

I rent properties and rent them out, under agreement with owner.Went through pandemic, I feel my strategy is mature enough for me to move on to next stage....  

Get made whole financially, learn what you can, and move on. 

I moved from NorCal to live and invest in Reno, NV because I still wanted to be close to the Bay Area but wanted to have much more favorable landlord/tenant laws, low property taxes (that don't reassess on the sale), consistent diversified job growth, and land constraints for higher appreciation. 

He will help you move from step one and actually get across the finish line.

I own a home (moved in 5 months ago) but do not have any investment properties yet.

Once you know what to look for in terms of an investment in your market then you can start speaking with lenders about using that 20k to determine what you can afford and then move into actually narrowing down properties and making offers!

Lets move forward with positivity knowing that with AI, by our side there are possibilities ahead.

I'm trying to sort out my options and make the next best move now, or within a few years.

For example, most of my tenants would move in on about the 1st, BUT they could have their move-in money and sign the lease sooner.