Hello everyone - I own a single family home in BC Canada which is currently my principle residence, and I also own a duplex that is a rental property in Ontario Canada. 

Here are some steps to help you get started:Learn for Yourself.Make sure you understand your investing objectives.

There are a lot of details you haven't filled in in this post (which is fine), but you will likely need a key principal to co-sign loan and a contract with an experienced property management company.The key principle will co-sign the loan to help show the net worth and liquidity needed for the underwriting department.  

Make it clear that you have learning objectives, are eager to learn, and are prepared to act upon their suggestions.

Don't lose sight of your objectives, take initiative to ask for help and direction, and don't be afraid to ask questions of the BiggerPockets community. 

if cashflow is the goal, then a) choose a market to invest in that's cashflow-heavy, first and foremost. note: living in a property for a year doesn't necessarily build equity. your principle paydown year 1 ain't much & if the market dips a bit, you could have no or negative equity at the end of y1. just something to consider.note: appreciation in general is speculation. we can make educated guesses on what's going to happen, based on what HAS happened, but this isn't the 'perk of RE investing' to focus on when you know your goal is cashflow. ignore appreciation for now.if the goal is cashflow, why not just start with a rental?

If you're objective is to pay cash then the answer is yes. 

Additionally, they've agreed to pay $200 more per month than our current tenant, which is an offer that aligns well with our financial objectives, even as we plan to adjust the rent upon renewal for the existing tenants.This MTM arrangement also perfectly aligns with our plans to make improvements to the property.

Dont suppose I'll get it...again, i've never done a real estate deal other than purchasing my house over a decade ago. without experience there's just so much i dont know.networking is a sore spot, i'm just not a people person. thats one reason i look at real estate. since i plan to have any properties managed, i wont have to deal with a lot of people. i imagine you'll scold me for this but whatever. i'm never going to be a people person and thats set in stone. it's something i have to work around not overcome.It seems I always get to the same point with real estate where I take the safe and easy route and leave my $ invested in the stock market. the thing that appeals to me about re, and i'm more focusing on rentals, non b&b, is steady income with an appreciating underlying asset. whereas the market is up and down. i can get totally safe 5% from short term bonds, but i know my principle is withering away from inflation (i dont believe the gubt bogus 3% cpi). with a rental house i could get 5% rental income, and the house will appreciate ~5% a year. that's a huge difference. the other thing i'm somewhat interested in is flips, but same story there, i just dont have the knowledge, and all the reading this forum or watching yt's in the world only gets to the surface as it's all airy generalities.

PS Interest rate on the $680K loan is 3.125%; I have paid off $48K of the principle and have $631.8K left on the loan.