Chris, hopefully individuals with experience in pitching partners will chime in. 

Because individual owners are not as savy as others in the business, they tend to sell with the idea of getting cash in hand quick.

However, OAR is currently sponsoring legislation that will allow for individuals to take all of the pre-license courses online.

While federal and possibly state taxes still apply to the distribution even when the funds are used for the purchase of a primary residence, the 10% early distribution penalty if you are under age 59 1/2 does not apply when a distribution is taken from an IRA to pay for certain first-time homebuyer expenses (subject to specific dollar limitations) (IRC Sec. 72(t)(2)(F)).A qualified first-time homebuyer distribution is any distribution received by an individual to the extent that the distribution is used by the IRA owner before the close of the 120th day after the day on which the distribution is received.

I'd love to connect sometime and pool skill sets or just talk shop and meet a like minded individual in the area, especially one familiar with the insides of properties as I'm able to force most of my appreciation on the exterior with lots of free material and excess stone and plants and such from work with a large network of landscapers and suppliers around. 

The issue my accountant raised is the complexity of splitting up the profit and loss on individual tax returns.

It consists of 4 individual buildings (3 duplexes and a 4-plex)  We had to insure each building separately with each carrying it's own policy.  

Even at just 6% appreciation, you'll be adding another $15k or so in value per year, and then you could sell it at the peak of the market if you like and make your money then or 1031 exchange the equity into another investment property without paying capital gains on the profit.One thing you might want to consider is looking at 2-4 unit multifamily properties (duplex, triplex, fourplex) as the lending is the same as other residential and it's much easier to get a return.As far as neighborhoods go, it's really street by street, so you need to look at each property individually and can't just assume a neighborhood is good or bad based on the zip code.BUT -- if you want a general suggestion of areas to look in where you may be more likely to find a good buy, I would try looking in Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Arden Arcade, North Oak Park, North City Farms, etc.

When I search for my buyer clients I have a database of developers, retail property management companies, individual owners and groups , other retail brokerage companies, construction companies, commercial attorneys, etc.There are specific single tenant net lease brokerages so if you want to get trained in that you might want to move to one of those companies.Look at joining ICSC.

As investors what are you looking for when an individual calls and wants to purchase your property?