If you are just a plain person they usually must serve you in person. 

Require co-signers (like their parents), check references from previous landlords or college housing, verify enrollment status, and personal interviews to gauge responsibility.6.

Personally, I wouldn’t invest in a market where appreciation averages only 2%.

For in person connections try some local real estate meetup groups.

Yes I have owned 4 personal homes before but never an investment property.

If one is transferring property title from personal name, a Grant/Warranty Deed would be drafted/recorded to transfer title. 

If a person has to ask, at all, I STRONGLY advise to use a PM service for tenant placement. 

@Leslie L Meneus, while the forums can be pretty good, in-person networking and sharing ideas is much more valuable.  

If you're more of a 'personal referral' person than a 'do research online' person, and this is local to you in Manhattan, KS, hit up one or two of the trades people in the "little apple all stars" BNI group.

To Sum it up, its a good idea if you can exceed the cost of capital (higher rate than your cost of debt) with what you earn on your heloc/debt you pull out and invest.The question is how much gains above is enough to substantiate the risk of your variable interest rate, well thats up to your personal investing criteria.