Tough to answer due to so many feelings about risk tolerances and what other investments could be making you as a ROI.I feel leverage of real estate is the real strength of this asset.  

Would love to chat with you further about your real estate goals!

It's a super affordable real estate market where you can still find deals that hit the 1% rule anywhere from $120-180k for a single family (or $200-250k for a multifamily) purchase price.

I work with Property Management in Houston but can recommend some great networking/educational events for you :) Check out Space City REI - there's monthly meetups with an educational speaker relating to real estate investing and there are plenty of Investors looking for Wholesalers out there! 

Quote from @Mary Holland: I'd love to hear about your experiences and how they compare to other types of commercial real estate financing.

@Oleksandr IvanovskiyRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Hi @Sam M.there are great answers on this post but I want to clarify something.In a real estate transaction most of the items are negotiable.

1.Zoning and Land UseUnrestricted Areas & Mobile Homes:How can I determine if a piece of land is in an unrestricted area or suitable for placing a mobile home?

We all invest in real estate in order to make money, and keep in mind that someone who can only afford to live in a mobile home and seller-finance to buy the land is probably tight on funds. 

The pro development and affordable housing advocates use the term NIMBY, but I suspect it is the rare person that buys in a single family zoned area that would be thrilled to have 17 units (qp16 additional units added) in the lot next to them.My initial protege was the land source on this effort.