Having local family gave me a built-in support system, market familiarity, and the confidence to manage a property from a distance if needed.

I have a team that manages our ads getting $15-20 leads nationwide wondering if AI is beating that.

Then you can self-manage and learn all about tenants, contractors, etc. 

You can explore bedroom rental also as opposed to the entire unit with 1 party but that is more complicated for management.

Property management - maybe 3-4k/year.

For example one person could manage paperwork and another person could be boots on the ground.

I work with Property Management in Houston but can recommend some great networking/educational events for you :) Check out Space City REI - there's monthly meetups with an educational speaker relating to real estate investing and there are plenty of Investors looking for Wholesalers out there! 

Louis, MO real estate, ABODEbucks is a full-service STR-specific management company charging a flat $250/mo + $20/night booked.

Section 8 and multifamily aren't for the faint of heart and can be challenging for novice investors both in managing and reselling.

For owner managed properties like this we see expense ratios in the 35%+ range.