I am an out of state Investor and I know a lot of you live and invest in St.

@Hugh Horner I live in the village of Catskill.

I am a district manager with a company called Build 2 rent, and i live in Cape Coral.  

Theres someone living in the side that I will be occupying until the 1st of February, but since I JUST became the owner, would it make sense to reach out and ask them something like "Hey its __ the new owner, just checking in to see how you're doing.

Hey @Jerry Nogueras - I was in your shoes too, born in NYC, and lived between there and Long Island. 

Too bad you can't buy something owner-occupied, put 5% down with the best interest rate, live in it for 12 months (and fix it up), rent it out and repeat the cycle.Here's some other info you might find useful:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Quote from @Andrew Lawlor: I've been actively investing in short-term rental properties for the past three years, managing one live property and another that will go live in two months.

Split the $20 to buy yourself lunch and dinnerIf you are on the road, daily per-diem should cover a lot of your day to date living costs.If they send you on the road, you can potentially airbnb your house.Best of luck!

Where do you live, and where are your units? 

The property has to be considered 'in service' for you to list it on your tax return.In service entails a couple of items such as1) The property is in livable condition - Working bathroom, kitchen and an area to live.2) The property was advertised for rent.Best of luck