I am mostly looking for some advice and lessons learned from others on how leaving their residence and becoming a landlord from across the country went. 

I am also listing a room (MTR) in my primary residence in California.

What kind of residents are there?   

But my real estate investment knowledge is very limited to the basics that one always starts buying it as their primary residence. 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

After checking with the power company on the status of the power they said crews have been out and they showed power being used at the residence.

(You can't move earlier than a year and get another primary residence.)If you buy a 4br in the $500k range and put 5% down, that's likely $3300/mo or so.

The strategies you mentioned above seem to be more advanced strategies, but if that is what you enjoy, learn as much as you can and get into it.With minimal income, I would suggest saving up some money, buying a new primary residence that you can house hack, and keeping your current property as a rental.

If we resided in a property for 20 months in the last 5 years, does the IRS consider a "partial" capital gains tax exemption?