In a city like Philly, you will face many challenges - you need to learn the market and know the neighborhood and the block and make sure all of your numbers are within reason, you need very reliable contractors, you need a to understand the permit process, you need to be familiar with market expectations. 

And start the tedious process of building those relationships.Or you could skip all that and find a mentor that also has the community of likeminded people.It will take you less time but is likely going to require an up front investment.Btw have you done a deal yet or would this be your first?

Make sure you understand the auction process and are prepared for any unseen issues with the property.Auction Considerations: With auctions, pay close attention to the condition of the property, title issues, and financing restrictions.

What I love about Baselane is that it was built BY real estate investors FOR real estate investors so it's really dialed in to what you're going to need in order to prepare your taxes, keep your books up to date and the more operational aspects of being an REI like tenant vetting and processing rent payments.

I wanted to offer him about $50K over what is remaining on the mortgage and go through the 60-90 day process to assume the existing mortgage.

Starting with a smaller property or a few fix-and-flip projects can help you build equity, gain credibility with lenders, and better understand the process before scaling up.Securing funding for larger projects can be challenging without prior experience, but options like hard money loans might be worth exploring.

If you conduct yourself as a serious investor truly looking to work with that PM than they will likely help you through the process, especially if you use them as an agent.

The rules are also very landlord-friendly (no 12-month eviction process!).

Always happy to swap ideas and keep refining this process.

It's the simplest way and walks them through the entire STR process.