Also, both of the properties I purchased came with title insurance provided by the seller, so having to do a big investigation into the title was not necessary.  

Even if you have a perfectly legitimate reason (bad payment history, property being sold, owner letting a child live there, etc.) you still have to deal with the complaint process and investigation, and the possibility of other charges being made against you if other things come to light.

I have looked into joining a local REI group, but have yet to take the time to really investigate what it can gain me. 

Based on my initial investigation, I believe that would like to invest in Central &/or Eastern Washington state and, perhaps Northern California (since that is where I currently live - but prices are high). 

I haven't investigated QuickBooks at all but from the little I've heard about it, it is most likely something I'll look into. 

Scoping the neighborhood for distressed properties I'll find either absentee owners or those recorded as occupants which upon further investigation aren't actually occupying the home and require some skip tracing.

Knowing (now) how very simple it is to determine if there is a leak that needs further investigation, he should have done that.  

Many of my customers will not have even seen a house that's listed on the MLS before I present it to them because most of them are 30-50 with families and FT jobs that just can't make the time to go investigate every house that looks like it might be a good deal, only to turn out not to be.I'm not going to convince you to buy houses from me that are listed on the MLS and I'm not sure that I'm even trying to.  

I have preliminary drawings of the dimensions of the apartment and units.

After all, you wish to receive the benefits of a rental later.Once you gave the preliminary title report from a title insurance company or abstract company you can copies of recorded documents, including any liens and mortgages and either figure out what you have or pay an expert to explain it.