And you probably need money for living expenses.

You'll need a contact who lives in Philadelphia for a rental license now to put down their contact info for the city.

That way, her limited funds can go toward her own living expenses. 

From my experience working with over 400 investors, consider alternative strategies like rent-by-the-room, buying an SFH with an ADU, or renting where you live while investing elsewhere.

I live in El Paso, TX and would like to invest close to home first before venturing in long-distance.

Consult someone who actually knows what they are talking about/does this for a living, but most of your tax savings are only going to offset the earnings of the partnership rather than one of you individually.

The alternative is to go with a single-family home, live in it for about 1.5 years, and then purchase another home while renting out the first one.

This has been my experience and I live in an ultra-competitive market.

@Luis Cerwin as others have stated, Nov - Jan is the worst time of year to have a vacancy.Majority of tenants live paycheck-to-paycheck, so all their income goes to Holiday spending starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then xmas, then NYE.January is also historically the worst month for rent payments due to Holiday Hangover Spending.

Quote from @Kyle Barnhart: I live near Phoenix and looking to invest locally.