New to real estate investing

[Austin Dumbaugh]

I am 25 and in the phase of educating myself about the real estate world while also saving money to purchase my first rental property. I live in a small rural college town in Ohio so the local options are limited to single family homes or a duplex at most rented to college students. I believe in the multi family approach to get more doors under 1 roof . This is limited in my town, approximately 2 hours away are Columbus and Dayton larger markets and more opportunists for multi family properties. I am nervous to buy these in the future and depend on a periphery management company to oversee my properties for me? Is it just a matter of picking the right company ? Or am I safer to just buy single family homes in my town in order to managed myself? I feel being away from my properties and reliant on property managers is risky to start with?