You don't have the natural habitat views here like the oceans, mountains, etc. that you would have in California or Colorado.

Most likely the state where the property is located is where lawsuits would be brought if they are something for personal injury like a trip and fall or something of that nature because the “cause of action” arose in that state.

Naturally it will always be a fixer-upper, REO, or Short Sale.

To answer your question directly my advice is don't jump into deep water without adequate life preservers.

This doesn't help with no natural light coming in, but we are in Maine and it's sunset about 4:13 right now.

I'm naturally hyper, impatient and a control freak.

On one hand I want to suggest looking into opening a HELOC on your current home rather than selling, this will give you access to some capital for your down payment funds on your next purchase and not require you to move into a rental for a short amount of time as you transition (something i'm guessing wouldn't be extremely fun especially with a little one either on the way or just arrived).Once you have adequate down payment funds, you could simply watch for the right thing to come along from the comfort of your own home.

Naturally, I lean toward buy and hold rental properties since that's what I've already been doing since 2010. 

As I am shopping for insurance, I can't help but ask myself, "what is adequate coverage for my owner occupied, 3 family home?".

@Brad Mylius Hondros is good...I would prefer in-class education, given the nature of the content.