Focus on areas with strong rental demand, like Broad Ripple, Fountain Square, or near universities like Butler and IUPUI.Maintenance Costs: Indiana weather can be tough on properties, so budget for seasonal maintenance like snow removal and HVAC servicing.Additional AdviceKeep an Emergency Fund: Unexpected repairs or vacancies can arise, so having 3-6 months of expenses saved will help you weather any surprises.Build a Reliable Team: I have lists of contractors, handymen, cleaners and property managers if you'd like me to send.Good luck with your property and future expansion!

., get a higher paying job, work two jobs, go to trade school, get a higher paying degree, live in affordable area, etc...these are things that most of us did).

We’re not used to seeing emergency declarations as frequently as they do in Florida.Our borrower is a local rehabber with a property scheduled to be funded today and close tomorrow.

I have a pretty large emergency fund in place for those properties, but I wonder if that capital could be better employed elsewhere (potentially acquire another property).  

. - As @Jonathan Klemm mentioned, passing on this load so that you can be more present and attentive to your family and not be essentially working  24/7, on-call for the needs of tenants and property emergencies... can be worth the management fees. 

Second, if you want a nice house in a nice part of town, you will have to pay for it, so will likely need to raise your purchase price.Third, if you want to go off-market, just know you are trading a lot of time for the possibility of maybe finding a deal.  

If this is not something you're interested in delving into and learning to a high degree, then investing in publicly traded REITs would be another good option for you, which have historically returned about 13.5 per cent Per year over the past 50 years (1977-present), beating the US stock market by two per cent and even beating private real estate investing by 4 per cent (that's compared with the average real estate investor, not the experts here at Bigger Pockets).

A 1031 exchange allows you to defer taxes by exchanging real property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment for other real property of like kind, which is also to be held for similar purposes.

Hey Kaleb,I would suggest investing in one of America's emerging cities like Detroit. 

Non traded public REIT?