Don't have all your food on the same plate-- meaning same agent, same PM group, same contractor, same inspector.

I served a notice of non-renewal to my tenant with the lease ending in June.

20k is not viable anywhere near here because the 20k needs to serve as your reserves. 15k at a minimum which would leave you only 5k for a downpayment.

I am still grateful for the lessons that this one taught me, and will serve me well in all my future endeavors..

I served a notice of non-renewal to my tenant with the lease ending in June.

Remember, you not only have to serve them notice, but you have to serve DSS the notice as well.

I think a strategy that would serve me well is one where I buy a 2 (or 3) bedroom house with 1.5+ bathrooms.

Hi Michael,I like your thoughts of building a large portfolio because it's very important in sub $100,000 markets like Ohio.A large portfolio = A safe portfolio.Personally, I've always been a big believer in buying with cash.Less is more.Once you gain experience and understanding the true income vs expenses of your portfolio.Then look at using leverage for faster growth.It takes many years to learn a market along with establishing a solid understanding of it's "in's and out's" from a people/team perspective.As investors we should always reverse engineer and protect the bottom line first and foremost before looking toward expansion and growth.My "cash only" mentality has served me well over the years in my businesses and real estate endeavors.Especially when things turned South and they always eventually do.Start slow, start small, buy with cash and build from there.Just my opinion and wishing you much successps.

The “headline” CPI (Consumer Price Index = inflation) for June declined 0.1% month-over-month, and the “core” CPI (excluding food & fuel) rose only 0.1% MoM.

I'm in Ohio and serve all those areas.