Seek out regions that are seeing increases in infrastructure, employment, and population expansion as these factors can eventually raise property values.Pitfalls to Avoid:Overleveraging: Take care not to put too much debt on your shoulders or overextend your finances.

FedEx and Eli Lilly are two of the larger employers.

I'm searching for an insurance professional to discuss the concept of negotiating group purchasing property insurance for a discount (similar to what is done through health care via employers).Are there regulations that would make this prohibitively difficult in the property insurance industry?

My spouse and I are members of the LLC - so do we still need EIN if we are not employing anyone?

Your greatest challenge is going to be running this management company without the appearance of co-mingling all of the LLCs together.Bear in mind that one of the things that you'll be doing here is converting Passive Income to Earned Income via the Mgmt Company and that will be subject to self employment tax whereas had you left everything in the property LLCs, you'd have only passive income. 

@Alex JacobsNew investors who want to increase their portfolio and reduce their initial investment often employ the "house hacking" method.

@John D.Without self-employment activity, a self-directed IRA will be a better match for you.

Census data - median household income, employment stats, bachelors degree percentages, crime, vacancy rates, appreciation2.

@Sarah Kensinger what types of unique outdoor designs do you employ.

Screaming high / fast interest rates employed by the Fed, $10 Trillion in federal spending, extremely low home sales, corporate earnings revised lower and lower, inverted yield curve for Treasury Bonds, etc…, all indicated a recession on the horizon.