I'm still green around the ears but am preparing for my first rental property purchase this year.

  #4 requires literally a lifetime of practice and intense preparation. 

I know this question is vague, so here is the sitiluation: I hired a CPA well regarded and very active here in BP, in January, to prepare my 2023 tax return.

@Trevor Crabtree- thanks ....before seraching to hard- if you need to use  financing - get fully pre approved with a lender ..its  free and  easy  and this will educate you /  organize you and  prepare you . 

Official paperwork should be prepared with a real estate lawyer, and financial examination should take into consideration interest revenue, tax consequences, and market circumstances.

If you want to talk risk, put down the PE talk for a second and look at commercial real estate, inflation, higher defaults, forever wars, growing china dependence and the economy and tell me that real estate would not be effected equally across the entire board when the house of cards fall, yet dividen stocks (this is a fact) tend to out perform the rest of the market due to hardships not really keeping people from drinking coke and eating at fast food chains.

Prepare exit strategy.10. 

I am also preparing to move down to Phoenix this month in search of a multi-family property to house hack.In our search so far, we have seen these investments in all surrounding cities.

D͏eveloping a ͏budget and͏ preparing for costs.

There's nothing wrong with active investing (buying rentals), just make sure you go into it understanding how much work it is, and be prepared for it to be a side hustle rather than a source of passive income.