The BiggerPockets community is great for guidance, but nothing beats local mentorship.

I financed this property using down payment funds from 403B and a local commercial bank.

I love learning ideas to make my business better from other local investors.

When dealing with federal, state, and local NOFA (notice of funds availabilities), do government funds allocated for affordable housing often get depleted from too many developers requesting funds for new projects?

As others said out of state can be more challenging based on location but local or out of state both can be done. 

I have attended local meetups so that I can have a handful of experienced folks who have resources to share.  

I would recommend that you get out to local meetup events, as that is where you will make the really deep connections to help you get rolling. 

We would love to connect with investors, as well as investor-friendly realtors and property managers in the northern Alabama region.Any insights into the local market or recommendations for neighborhoods to explore further would be greatly appreciated.

Nashville, Dallas, etc etc)Yeah, I know states like Florida and Arizona have prohibited local municipalities from restricting non-owner occupied STRs.

@Jeffrey Bourque Are you planning to finance this with a local bank or credit union?