You’ll want to get really familiar with local zoning laws, short-term rental rules, and landlord-tenant laws as they vary by town if you plan on going the STR route.Focus on Cash Flow Early On: You might be tempted to go for something that appreciates quickly, but in the early stages, it’s important to find properties that bring in cash flow.

I also suspect inflation will drive continued migration to lower cost of living / lower tax states.  

I'm still flipping but I do live ins so only 1 every couple years, mostly San Jose.

FHA 203k wont work unless youre going to live in the property as your primary.

Having a property management company seems to be a good option for me since I am living out of state.

I live right in Glastonbury and I serve the greater Hartford area.

In this case, you can use Rental Income from the units that you will not be living in and that income can count to help you qualify.FHA rates are going to be lower than conventional for you almost always, but FHA does have a 1.75% funding fee. 

If you have other money besides the 20K then this is a different story Already living in a house I bought before Covid.

I live in California (Central Coast) and have built a 12-door portfolio in Detroit, which has been a great market for both cash flow and long-term potential.Detroit still offers properties well below the $150k mark, with strong rent-to-price ratios and a market that’s seeing growth in key areas.

But this was an awesome opportunity for me because this is my first living situation where I will be on my own (and getting used to paying a rent/mortgage) but this will put my overall mortgage on a 400k house at roughly $2000 a month for the first year!