Quote from @Nathan Gesner: Buying a house is straightforward; managing it can be a whole different challenge.

Much of my career was focused on REO properties, during which I ran a parallel small business that handled property inspections and performed BPOs for banks.

To me it’s a challenging game, an intricate puzzle where if you learn how to play you get great results.

•What challenges or surprises should I expect?

Yes, the economies of scale are better but I feel the jump from duplexes to a 20 unit will be much more challenging than you think.

I think one of the biggest risks you face with Cash Out is interest rate risk.It's really difficult to predict where interest rates will be in a 2-5 year time period, so it can also be challenging to model out future mortgage rates.

The challenge newer investors face is that overpriced properties tend to sit on the market for 60+ days and they see them all the time.

Podio is extremely flexible and extensible.All that being said, here's the big challenge with Podio:  when you first sign up for Podio, there's a demo workspace with apps, but it can still look like a "blank sheet of paper." 

We are looking to wholesale outside of our chosen market to help build capital for projects within our chosen market (Louisiana) as I have potential deals in other markets and am not confident in how to proceed with them contractually, (don't want to be stuck with a bill I can't handle currently and also want to ensure I'm operating correctly).

The challenge is finding the deals.