It's exciting and can be overwhelming at the same time! 

It’s their full time livelihood to make transactions happen.  

With an owner-occupied loan, you can buy a house with 0-5% down and get 30-year fixed rate financing so you're not dealing with adjustable rates if rates go back up and not dealing with a balloon payment in 6-24 months which is plenty of time for an experienced investor but not a whole lot if you're new. 

But at the same time, this market just keeps climbing, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.Suffolk is definitely more affordable than Nassau, but even out there, prices are getting ridiculous.

@Michael Baum how many Short-term rentals do you manage this way where you are on call all the time?

If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.

Have you taken the time to search AirBNB and VRBO in those specific areas to see how many STRs are operating?

Amateur investor/full time agent here. 

This money is still owed by the tenants and at times we were able to collect some of the money for the damages.Regarding installing a sprinkler system, it's only helpful if the tenants don't turn it off.

I come across SFR in other states from time to time direct to seller.