Do you recommend making relationship with property management companies?

Do they use pen and paper to record this information or do they have some sort of software to manage it? 

Plus, there are upfront costs to consider, like furnishing your condo and any expenses tied to managing it as a rental.As for refinancing, it might not be the right time with interest rates where they are.

@Gary Abrams A cloud based solution would work really well in your scenario of having other family logging in and helping with management. 

Hello BP!In 2025 I plan on purchasing my first home. Hoping to go down one of two paths:1- Buy a condo or small single family home and build equity and create value with my maintenance/construction background.2- Find ...

I would like to start close to home as I plan to self manage the rental side of it.

With a natural in and use owner occupied housing, you could likely end up with 1-2 houses a year (each in a new city).The other option is when your baseball career is over, you will most likely end up back in your home town, so you could start the brrrr process there with maybe your parents checking in on the work the contractors and property managers are doing.Best of luck.

Here in FL in addition to management I also broker for investors, and curate a weekly vetted STR list with local homes. 

Nita Cook is a great property manager in the area for short term and long term rentals.

I had to relocate to Ohio to manage it.