@Eli Miles I would start by identifying 3-4 markets with solid multifamily fundamentals within a two hour driving/flying radius from your area.

Yes, the RE market is cyclical, but basic fundamentals aren't changing.

Learning the fundamentals of finance has been a huge advantage for me and has allowed me to make that transition into commercial real estate.

Things that matter for this are:Property location (market fundamentals and the neighborhood)Tenant qualityProperty qualityExit strategy optionsManaging the propertyTo get you started, here's what I look for in rental properties-https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2013/08/10/what...That's not all the information you'll need, but hopefully will give you a jump start!

I would first make sure you know business fundamentals before going down this path.Things to know SalesMarketingOperations Finance Create an org chart of how your business is going to be structured and the roles that will need to be filled under those sections in your Org chartCreate a business plan should be the  very first thing you do after you hire a business coach

This is a fundamental rule to investing across all types of assets, stocks, bonds, real estate etc. 

@Tracie Janoska - Both markets have strong fundamentals.

This isn't fundamentally different than creating an incentive structure for your tenants to hide serious maintenance issues.

It's really helped me, and assuming the individual has strong financial fundamentals, I would recommend the strategy.

For example, you can't "make" 20K a year in rent on a house rented for $1200 a month but you can easily make 20K every year on a rental investment in a city with good fundamentals and housing demand.Even in my "cashflow" market of Memphis some of my homes have doubled in value in 9 years.