I am searching for the best channel mgt app that supports airbnb, booking.com, direct book (on my site), and VRBO.

I did a quick google search for cap rates on apts in Muncie and I got a range of 8.13% to 9.50%.

If you have the desire and ability I wouldn't wait around for another year when you get here. 

Hehe, yeah the Prime Day search has been kinda prolific.

On my end, I would never purchase a property that won't produce at lease 1k in net cash flow, and it must be in a desirable area that is expected to appreciate.

I have a live-in (22 year old son) rehab (pt Loma) starting Dec 1 if you desire to see the pre-rehab condition reach out to me a couple days before Dec 1.  

Might be worth doing some soul searching to make sure that is the direction you guys want to go. 

You'll want to search for a property management company to handle it for you.

I don't have the time to study Bitcoin nor do I have the time or desire to study any individual company thus I invest my traditional retirement savings into low cost index funds.That being said, I do feel like I can study and become educated about my local residential real estate market and it is an interesting topic to me so that is where I spend my time, effort, and excess capital.Regarding, investment vs gambling. 

It depends on a variety of factors: your goals, your time constraints, your available capital, your desires, your timeline, etc.