I have so much to learn starting out I don't want to add any unnecessary risk or headaches dealing with out of state properties or long distance rentals. 

I use Facebook marketplace as my way of marketing my rentals.

Dentistry.Buy your own building, rent out to other professionals and use the money to buy single family homes for rentals.

You will have to verify those yourselves to ensure you end up with correct operating expenses.Quote from @Andrew Newcomb: Just following up on this in case anyone is still following:I learned about "cap rate" and "cash on cash" metrics in the BP learning articles and watched a couple vids on the BP rental calculator showing how it calcs those metrics for a prop (you have to add the details like loan info, expenses, etc). very cool tool.

@Andrae S Wiggins recommend you upgrade your BP membership to Pro to access the BP Calculators to evaluate rental purchases.Play with the numbers to figure out the purchase price that gives you your target ROI.That's the number you'll need to make an offer at, NOT what the seller is asking.Yes, you will get a lot of rejects, but whoever said investing was easy?

Starting small with a single-family rental or a duplex can give you experience without taking on too much risk.Real estate is a long game.

You might make it work if you can find a way to increase cash flow aside from the basic long term rental strategy. 

I have a designer who only does rental properties. 

Older homes in neighborhoods like Heights and Montrose are full of charm, character, and history, but may need some renovations.When navigating the market, it's important to partner with a local real estate agent, take into account rental market demand and rates, search for value-add chances, and learn about landlord-tenant laws.

We're primarily focused on real estate finance at this point rather than rentals and flips, but we still occasionally flip when an excellent opportunity pops up.