My first rental I asked the guy at the closing table how much he usually got for rent and he told me he could pretty reliably get 300-400.

Focus on areas near job hubs and good schools, as they attract reliable tenants.

While I haven’t chosen a specific niche yet, I’m leaning toward purchasing a multi-unit apartment where my 20-year-old son could live and help manage while we rent out the other units—essentially a form of house-hacking.So far, I’ve connected with a few real estate agents and gained MLS access, which has been a great starting point.

And you need your property occupied by a reliable tenant.

You can run one-off searches for phone numbers and email addresses, and they often have promos for new users.Spokeo for Professionals: While not specifically real estate-focused, it’s a reliable option for finding contact info for individual property owners, especially for one-off searches.Forewarn: This is great for verifying contact details and gives a bit more intel on leads.

I don't think I can ask the seller to evict prior to purchase, although that would be the best scenario.

If you’re considering leveraging hard money lending (HML) for this flip, it could be a strong alternative to traditional financing—especially since HML is quicker to secure and designed for investors aiming to flip properties fast.With HML, you’re typically looking at covering a significant portion of both purchase price and rehab costs, which keeps more of your cash free for other expenses or emergencies.

I used a private lendor to fund the re-hab (cash) and owner financed the purchase price (minus down payment) I have a bank account linked to Stessa and I see the cash deposit in the transaction tab. 

Make sure you understand the local rental market and have a reliable team for rehabbing properties.- **House Hacking:** This can be a great way to start, especially if you're looking to live in one of the units.

But I’d say the key to success is building a reliable team on the ground.