Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

Read all the guides and listen to the podcasts.

It doesn't make any difference how many books you read or podcasts you listen to, you'll still make mistakes... but it's better to make mistakes on a smaller project that you can learn from and then use those mistakes to be more successful on your next larger deal vs starting out with an apartment building where the mistakes could potentially bankrupt you. 

Now I spend 4 hours once a week powering boiling water in corners, bed frames and any other hot spots.I recently went and read some reviews, they all complained about bed bugs in the first sentence of the review. 4 years ago, this was not an issue, now I seem to be just stuck.

Thanks for your feedback.

I'm based in northern VA but was considering buy and holds in Reading, PA, particularly the 19604 zip code.  

I have no experience with apartments except from reading and podcasts (and some units my dad owned when I was a teen - which required a stare down with a tenant in a karate gi).  

My understanding is that it is vague and you just have to "spend most of your time there" - which I could do, but my kids would still be in school in California, so not sure if that automatically makes my California place that I rent my primary residence.Thanks for the feedback, guidance, and recommendations.

It seems that there should be no issue with setting up a DBA or LLC simply to collect rent, without being a broker, since it is for no fee/commission/consideration of any kind.Am I mis-reading this?

Others may have had a very different experience so I look forward to their feedback.