So we are familiar with the north GA, western NC area.My wife's aunt and uncle are selling their house in Franklin, NC.

Always use a property manager to keep your real estate investments as passive as possible and keep you compliant with Fair Housing laws.This way you can learn to manage the property manager and learn from experience as you go.If you buy a bunch of properties all at once, they may not all fit your buying criteria, there may be deferred maintenance that needs to be dealt with all at the same time, and you will not have accumulated the management experience building your portfolio one at a time.To Your Success!

Now, the house that is about to refinance, I am thinking of turning into a MTR for traveling nurses, or other professionals as such.

What do you do when in house goes on vacation? 

 Hi Roger, yes, the plan is to house hack.

If there was a house of interest listed it was get there same day and make a strong offer to even have a chance, this doesn't seem to be the case at this moment.

My interests especially lie with multifamily properties, house hacking, and fix & flips.

There’s a ton of investment pouring in, job growth, and a growing demand for housing.

I don't think the future will be kind to the investors who bought cheap houses in a big community of other investors. 

Begin by educating yourself through books like The House Hacking Strategy and podcasts like BiggerPockets, and join online communities for support.