I've done a little exploration on the free AirDNA and it looks like there's potential to take in a significant amount of money from very modest sized properties.

It works over time, but the problem I see there is that you are consuming junk as well as having to make decisions on what is actually valuable information.There are plenty of opinions on how to do such on Bigger Pockets, but a lot of those opinions are misguided or wouldn't apply to you.You can do joint ventures with successful investors.

if your immediate area is too expensive, i'd pick a couple markets between 1 and 3 hours away, learn them, go to meetups, look at properties, get connected, research strategies, walk them, narrow down to 1, repeat, etc.and if that sounds like it's too time consuming or something you're not interested in... no worries. 

Since tenant selection is the most time consuming and highest risk activity, that may be a compromise to get you started.

Investors do this to protect themselves in the event the note goes into default, they can avoid a judicial foreclose (expensive and time consuming) and just take the property back, and resell it.  

I have a modest LinkdedIn presence and use Youtube only for watching videos and privately sharing others. 

This indicates a shift from a seller's paradise to a more balanced market.Median Sales Price Holds Steady: The median sold price for residential homes sits at $469,998, reflecting a modest 1.9% year-over-year increase.Fewer Bidding Wars: Though sellers are still receiving close to list price (95.6%), the intense bidding wars of the past seem to be fading.

The negative cost will be offset real quick by residents paying their own bill and consuming a lot less, and you don't have to worry yourself with billing them back.Gino

We are both residential appraisers working the NE Florida markets looking to transition over the LONG term to replacing our modest annual income through small/mighty single-family by buying in the path of progress where prices appear to be somewhat undervalued relative to long-term upside potential.

Business to business non-disclosure is one thing of "buyer beware" that is sadly tolerated; business to consumer games seems less tolerable these days.