I've heard a lot of individuals mention Equitable Interest as enough to satisfy the ability to market the property, that explanation seems a little off.

It's for bettors, not investors, in my mind.If you are a long-term buy and hold investor, then you want to be looking for stable markets with strong underlying fundamentals of population growth and job growth, and you want to be looking for strong cash flow with a built-in margin of safety for when the economy inevitably turns down and your vacancy goes up, so that you can still meet your debt service and not get foreclosed on.So many new investors see other people making money in a hot market and want to jump in too.  

What is their ability to make payments (verifiable income)?

When landlords list and show as soon as a tenant gives notice you have the ability to attract the best quality candidates and need never experience a vacancy. 

Why not take your knowledge and ability and find someone who wants to buy apartments and help them do it?

With one tenant property located in Estero, FL; I am looking to add more.My website illustrates my ability to create valuable designs.  

I could see purchasing a place with 3 or 4 units and the ability to have a couple long term tenants and a couple shorter term tenants.

That is silly, you could be losing a great tenant.What you really need is to not only check out the property, but you need to check out the tenants too. 1. get the info proof of their past payments, 2. verify their ability to pay just like an new tenant by usual stuff like job, income. eviction, criminal record, and social media. 3.

Lastly, if you complete your profile and add your photo, it will be will improve your ability to successfully network.All the best to you!

Ability to get good returns also depends on how and of course when you buy.