Most of the properties I bought are in the "high end of the low end" range, and none are on or near the water, which helped a lot.

Way too low!

I have a small real estate portfolio and a long investing horizon as I'm in my early 30s.Thoughts on why to stop 401k:- no match benefit- returns are very low avg. annual ~5.5% last 3 years net of fees- can only borrow up to 50k from 401k - limited access to capital until retirement age Thoughts on why it could be good to invest in ETFs or general securities example instead(SPY) :- higher returns 9% avg annual last 3 years net of fees - access to capital - securities backed line of credit (could be used as another form of liquidity to continue purchasing real estate) - long-term mitigated tax liability - if you never sell the underlying securities and instead use the line of credit as a form of liquidity to purchase assetsIt seems like this could be a long-term strategy with limited tax liability. 

With low inventory, this is a more efficient approach than targeting specific areas, IMHO! 

KC is a great long term rental market for low taxes and landlord friendly.

🏦To get to the point where you can avoid personal guarantees, you’ll need to build your business credit over time:Open trade lines in your business’s name (utilities, vendors, etc.).Make sure you’re reporting payments to business credit agencies like D&B.Keep your debt-to-income ratio low and maintain good cash flow.It doesn’t really matter if it’s an LLC or S-Corp—what matters most is establishing the business as a strong, creditworthy entity.But yeah, in the early stages, personal guarantees are almost unavoidable.

@Adolphus Fletcher - If you're main goal is to build business credit there are different avenues to do so including: obtaining and unsecured line of credit for the business, applying for a business credit card, applying for business accounts such as Home Depot/Lowes, etc...

Luckily for me, my cost of living is extremely low right now so I can save almost all of my commissions.

The paperwork to get them setup almost always meant my first rent check from agency would be about 45 days after lease start, so you need to float that.Tenants always paid with Money Order or cash, both required an actual visit to bank versus standard check that could be mobile deposited or ACH.Neutral:My tenants were not "light" on the property, but generally not overly hard either.  

If it were me, I would start with an agent and then look for an inspector who might do a "light" inspection for a fee.Matt