But day trading is a job at best and a nightmare at worst. 

If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee.

The interest rate and down payment requirement are lower than if it were considered a second home or investment property. 

Great job for taking the leap.

The issue I had was that most lenders required a certain number of completed flips done under a LLC.

If you control how they perform tasks, set their hours, or provide tools, they should likely be a W-2 employee, requiring you to withhold taxes and comply with payroll regulations.

BP has done such a great job of promoting SFR investing to the masses, that those masses have pushed up real estate prices to where it's now DIFFICULT to cashflow right away.Keep going, but understand you won't get rich in real estate overnight - it's a long-term wealth building strategy.For the short-term, recommend joining a few in-person investor meetings if possible, otherwise online ones.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Findlay is a real oppotunity beause you’ve got a combination of stable job sources, a decent population size, and often lower acquisition costs compared to bigger metros.About choosing an agent..

In Portland I can't require someone to be a legal citizen, nor have an SSN.