Rent controls will be a real issue if you are planning it as a rental investment which in fact reduce the value of the main house as a rental.

I have 4 long term rentals in my portfolio and I am mainly focusing on investing in single family homes in Traid, NC. 

I've also been focused mainly on Pgh because I have family there who are contractors and can to do any repairs/refurbishments.  

For me, I wanted to portray my real estate investments as more professional and that was the main reason I switched to using landlord software for rent collections. 

The main reason I would like to start off my career with flipping a few properties is so I can have a quick ROI and I want to do real estate full time as soon as I finish my contract.

The main issue with rental basement is water if it has water issue usually it is a simple fix .Clean gutters ,discharge gutter  water away 10" away from foundation, make sure you foundation soil is slopped away from it .If you need to buy soil get a clay mix .Cut back any tree too close to the foundation look at the drip line that's how far the limbs are out from the tree .If all that is done still has water buy a sump pump  carry the water to day light away from foundation 10" to 15" .

My main goal is to invest in real estate in the future, but I want to understand how everything works first.

When networking on BP or in person, being clear about your goals will make a big difference.Are you mainly interested in finding rental properties, connecting with other landlords, or exploring specific asset types?

They are however good at 20-25% down commercial portfolio loans if you need a creative solution so it depends on what your intended use is, your preference is, are you trying to get maximum leverage aka lowest down payment or is rate or cost your main preference? 

You won't be able to get the renters' names, but you can look up the unit numbers by putting in the main address into the tax records and it will show all the apartment numbers at that address.