There is no requirement to use them as mentors for doing the rehab projects as described in the horror story above, but they do their own underwriting so they will be investing themselves to assure the deal makes sense and is successful to assure they get their payments and interest. 

From there determining what you have budgeted for your first project.

Someone with limited ability to manage 2 or 3 SETS of contractors is not going to have successful rehabs.

Even competent 3rd party management can only mitigate, not necessarily address many of the issues that arise when owning lower tier properties & population growth alone is not a magic pill. 

Somehow they manage to live with it.

There's also huge development projects, many spearheaded by Dan Gilbert's Bedrock investment company. 

I wish you well in your project. 

I have quite a few clients from upstate NY who have properties under my management in Florida.Just a thought ;)

I was also planning to work for a property managing firm to learn the ropes of the state and local codes while continuing to invest.

A good designer and architect are key for a successful project like this and keep in mind these aren't cheap.There's a lot more details to consider, feel free to DM me for more details.