Pay attention to the duration.DM me if you want additional thoughts.Jeff

In addition, they are bearing the risk of you backing out of the deal and them being stuck with vacant units not bringing in rent. 4.

While it will likely give you more confidence and answer a lot of questions, I would say that talking to a seasoned investor, or even agent that works with investors, is a way better idea than spending 8K on something that you don't know too much about, especially before your first deal is done.

My immediate goal is to acquire our first property and spend the next two years mastering the basics of real estate investment. ( Refining the Go and No property search criteria/ Learning the value of taxes and avoiding them as much as possible/ 1031 exchanges) Depending on my wife’s career orders, we may remain in Baltimore for 1-2 years, but I’m also exploring opportunities in West Texas, Sierra Vista, AZ, and Houston, TX.

If you call that 10% of gross rents you will spend $116,000 a year on property management if you were earning $1,000/month/rental (about 1/3 of your gross profit on 97 rentals.)  

I think what @Garrett Brown is getting at is using this in addition to other methods.

I know when I was an active Broker my SOP  was get listing open escrow with buyer to be determined and order the preliminary title report prior to spending money on marketing someones property..

Additionally, consider operational costs like cleaning, staffing, and marketing, as they can quickly add up.For management, outsourcing to a professional property manager or leveraging tech platforms for bookings and operations could streamline things, especially if you plan to scale.

Some of these areas have lower purchase prices but solid rental demand, making them ideal for strategies like BRRRR.I spend my time scouting off-market distressed properties, and I’ve noticed that investors are having a lot of success in secondary cities just outside major metro areas.

Additionally, the price point is still cheap enough to find the 1% rule and positive cash flow and there's amazing appreciation potential.