It's a fairly unregulated space (charging grandma $750 to puts around for 3 hours, after moving the old box from the horizontal sensor, which was the only problem with the garage door to begin with), so some combination of carefully reading reviews (you have to actually read them to make sure it's not 200 fake reviews), and maybe not giving them the full contract all at once, is in order. 

But since that time I left my corporate job, moved states, my daughter was born and is now 6 months old, and I began investing in a new city.

Quick thoughts:The man often called the richest in the world, works waaaay more hours and waaaay harder than you or I or almost anyone else in the world.

I have no idea what’s going on in this world anymore.

At the end of the day, you are still buying $250K SFH's, the easiest asset class to finance in the real estate world.

Also you can find lenders that are a lender (have their own guidelines and terms) who can also broker to make sure you're getting the best of both worlds. 

Welcome to the world of real estate investing, and congratulations on taking the first steps toward learning about this exciting space!

It is an old house but has been completely gutted and rennovated in a Midwest state with a flatline population growth.

The servicers have to send notices 15 days prior to the transfer, but the new servicer is required by law to honor any payments made to the old servicer for 60 days.

Look into crime maps, and do the old fashioned thing of getting in a car and driving the market if it's not in your back yard.