You can focus on properties that have strong rental potential to generate steady cash flow, helping you pay down the mortgages over time.Once you’ve established a solid cash flow and built equity, you can scale by adding more properties gradually.

It's priced the way it is because of the added risk exposure.

Adding an ADU (which I know you made another post about this but the cash flow wasn't there), is one way or moving and converting your existing home into a rental is another.I would considering using funds you have to buy properties cash, get them up and running, and then do the cash out refinance (called Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refi, Repeat/BRRRR) in low cost states.

Quick and easy deal for the seller, I am adding a new roof soon as well as making some other minor updates around the property.

You already realize that trying to handle this remotely is adding complexity and risk.

The exterior was painted when we bought it, we refinished the floors, added carpet, new paint inside, refinished the kitchen cabinets, replaced a couple windows and did some minor plumbing work inside (along with getting rid of TONS of junk throughout the inside and outside of the home!)

I'd look for a cash out refi that includes escrowing the tax/ins as that will probably eliminate the issue. 

I even put the rent in a way to accommodate the headache, and just went back to market-based and eliminated the STR route for two of them.

It's an awesome opportunity both ways to eliminate tax on real estate gain.

It doesn’t have as many pre-built search filters as PropStream, but it’s excellent for quickly adding and managing leads on the go.Invelo and Property Radar are good for more niche searches like probate, inheritance, and deceased properties, especially if you’re trying to dive deep into public records.I’d suggest trying out a couple of free trials to see which interface and data best fits your specific strategy.