Find a good local mortgage banker/broker who can help you navigate those waters. 

With your friend on the ground there, that can be a big help in navigating.

Sometimes your risk reward changes substantially with the types of projects you can get into for one vs the other.As some other posters have alluded to, time constraints drive a lot - a light rehab/cosmetic buy and hold is possible for navigating while having a 'regular' job - and certainly managing rentals while working is possible as well.The last one, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned this - is market specific. 

These look very helpful in navigating my BiggerPockets beginning!

I have my girlfriend's brother, who is property manager, to help me navigate the rules in our state. 

It is a daily challenge to navigate the local, county, state and federal governments; local Code Enforcement, Housing Authorities, Department of Real Estate, Franchise Tax Board, Secretary of State, IRS, Dept. of Fair Housing & Employment, HUD...to name a few. 

Maybe I can help, if you are still trying to navigate this situation.

Glad to hear you seemed to navigate it effectively.

In my opinion, you can buy a property under your names (all three), but still use an operating agreement to help you navigate through the management of the business.

I used to discount the Airbnb, but I just make it the same and if I get a listing on air then great if not not big loss.As far as maintaining a other site it is just a bunch of copying and pasting and uploading same pictures.I find the air site and app a little more cumbersome to navigate and find things but I would recommend using it to pick up a few more listings.