Our target towns are not in the urban centers but more suburban towns with good schools are moderately priced homes for families.

Learn to control your spending and pay off debt.

After that's under control, focus on increasing income through additional work at your current job, taking on a side hustle, or finding ways to increase income on your existing rental.At the same time, educate yourself.

STR is another concern, many towns have laws against it but most towns do not enforce these laws, just make sure you are aware of them becuase they can be enforced. 

Originally posted by Matthew Paul:In my second house I had roommates , I had 2 thermostats , 1 in my bedroom that controlled the HVAC , another in the living room that wasn't hooked to anything just for the roommates to adjust .

I love the town, but I guess that my point is that it has substantial challenges as a full time local.

Petersburg area, resulting in highly–profitable investments.If you need professional and courteous property management experts for your multifamily, single family, condominiums or town home, you've found the right company!

I'm seeing a lot of homes up for auction (mostly SFH but some multifamily) around town--do you have any insight into this trend (why all the foreclosures?) 

I'm analyzing a mountain/lake town about 4-6 hours out from 3-4 fast growing cities.

But when people are out of town / out of state the title company can hire a mobile notary near you and they will fedex the documents to your local area to sign.