But are there any current owners that would let me pick their brain?

with no seasoning on this model I suspect its some portfolio type lender.. but who knows maybe wall st is at it again.. now they know they have their bottom feeding hedge funds to  pick up the crumbs when their loans default  :)))

To steer clear of house hacking, find a good realtor, get your loan approval early, plan for fix-ups and upkeep, pick tenants with care, and learn about property investing.

this is a great example of the cash flow vs appreciation debateIf I could find some cash flowing properties in A/B areas that have much higher appreciation growth, I would pick up a few of those to have for appreciation growth, even if it means my cash flow could go down a bit. 

Pick a RE path that looks promising and interesting to you.  

Here's how I do my due diligence:1) Portfolio matching: (takes 30 seconds per deal)a) Have an educated opinion on where I think we are in the real estate cycles (financial and physical market cycles)b) Then and only then do I pick the strategies, capital stack, and specialized asset subclasses that make sense for that opinion.

She said she'd spend some time figuring out her offer, write it on paper, and present it to me when I picked up the rent the following month.The next month, she gave me a sheet of paper with very neat writing. 

I would install new cabinet doors with hidden hinges on the existing cabinets; I order from Fryburg doors out of Millersburg, Ohio because I'm close enough to pick up and the quality is so very nice, but menards also sells in stock cabinet doors. 

It was easier to pick one as most lenders said that I was crazy investing on a property as a rental when I did not have a primary and most of the lenders did not understand terms like "cash on cash return".

I know it sounds over the top.. but there is a ton of fraud out there. best of luck and thank you for allowing us to go through this exercise and hopefully folks reading this will pick up some things that will help them vette their future deals.