As a start, I like the move to buy near your place of employment for easier self-management.

You can self manage (which I understand is work), but it also forces you to monitor your investments more, and makes you a better investor, even if you were to outsource (since you now know what goes into it).

I am a firm believer that you have to live there and offset your prop tax's with zero income tax and of course be a local and self manage. then to me its like any other market in the country basically..

To be clear, I will keep working but want to be self employeed in the home services business.Looking forward to see what I can learn from this community.Thank you.

We have been discussing parking lots and self storage.  

We own and self manage three rental properties.

Yes, you can self-manage from a far but it is very difficult and time consuming.

There is 3 primary components, ingredients, required to achieve such elevation of self in financial success your speaking of. 

The trouble I keep finding with this is that I am self employed now, they probably will ask for 2 years of proof of income as a self/business owner, right? 

Also maybe connect to Property Management companies if you are not self managing it.