I'd be surprised if you could find a PM that would take on just 1 property and if they did, I'd recommend you do a thorough check of their references.Let's say you decided to invest in Baltimore, would you be more interested in a property in the City or the County?

Considering the rates I am being quoted, I am a little surprised more investors arent talking about this.

Also, any advice for avoiding those unexpected surprises (or at least making them less painful) would be super appreciated.

These big-ticket items will still need replacement eventually, and having a reserve fund helps avoid financial surprises.

something that seems to surprise new investors is that transacting real estate is expensive.in Pittsburgh transfer taxes are 5%, usually split between buyer and seller. 

However, if you have the time and prefer to source properties on your own, I would highly recommend the following strategies:Connect with probate attorneysVisit property auctions: These happen monthly and, surprisingly, aren’t saturated with investors.Cold callingTarget LLC owned properties: Over the years we have seen an influx of companies purchasing SF for rentals/long-term holds and they failed to account for property taxes and an increase in new construction coming to the market.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they prolong this a whole year...

My savings was completely drained from interest payments and surprise costs I had to manage, and lots of little costs that at the outset I believed this guy would cover (100 to mow grass, every two weeks).

This is crazy & sad to see but not surprising!

Hi real estate friends,My wife and I recently bought our first home in Co springs area close to garden of the gods and other attractions in the area. to no surprise our interest rate is a whooping 7.1%, the main house has 4 - BD 2 B. our mortgage is $4009. the property we bought has an attached dwelling unit on the side of it, completely independent from the main unit we live in, we are currently renting it out for 2 years for a tenant for $1545, It has one bedroom one bath.My question is what are some ways to scale especially since in the current market (is kind of almost impossible)?