At your age I would start with a primary residence and house hack a small part of it for STR.

During a social encounter, I unknowingly interacted with an individual who misrepresented their age.

If we need to hire someone to mow the rental properties lawns or maintain websites, I am not sure why it will be very hard to convince IRS that we could hire our own kids to do the job if they are capable, and their payment is reasonable for their age.  

It's human nature not to factor in their time, nor large episodic real estate expenses etc.almost forgot this table chart from Mary Callahan Erdoes , she is the head of JP morgan asset management which has hundreds of thousands of high net worth investors, They are quite stringent when comparing their own investor's returns to other Asset classes

Census.gov will give you (for any city/state) the population, median home value, median household income, median age, racial distribution and more.

My response to a few:@Kevin S.The rate of appreciation varies by location, price range, property type, property age, and other factors.

Both were able to leave W2 jobs at ages 37 and 40.

First off, congratulations on saving such a significant amount at a young age!

Some municipalities in Pinellas County are a bit more stringent on STR rules even though the county itself allows nightly rentals. 

I would say you are off to a good start just by showing interest and enthusiasm for the investment business.o Age: many private lenders require someone to be 21+ years of age.