Many newer investors have to start somewhere and older more-beat-up homes are cheaper and can help someone get their foot in the door.As for appreciation, this too is location dependent.

One thing is for certain:  The basis in 2025 or 2026 will be a better starting point than 2022.  

The list of property management suites at Capterra is a decent start, so long as you take their reviews with a grain of salt. 

You could start a PM company that handles subsidized housing program recipients primarily but I am not sure of the economics of that as it is not my specialty.

Quote from @Paul Gupta: Hi, in California, For jobs requiring a license, there was CSLB (contractor state licensing board) which would give either a General Contractor license, or specialty licenses by trade (~60 specialties such as concrete, welding tile, ) https://www.cslb.ca.gov/about_us/library/licensing_classific...My Q: does Maryland and DC area have similar requirements? 

But the rental too does have to meet the "active conduct of a trade or business" threshold, which does mean you wouldn't qualify to use section 179 if you have a rental that is managed entirely by someone else and you aren't at least overseeing it and making decisions about the management of it.I mostly disagree with the reply suggesting that you need to have an LLC to take the section 179 deduction. 

Unfortunately, people in the trades are often good at their trade but poor at managing their business.

If you ever want to connect and trade thoughts on your goals, I'd love to do that. 

I’m relatively new to the world of real estate, having started my journey just 2 years ago.

Investment also spiked in Class A Short-Term Rentals (STR) and investors started paying higher and higher prices based upon anticipated STR rental rates, that exceeded sustainability based upon Long-Term Rental rates (LTR).