Josh Duncan Josh it depends on your comfortability level but I have been taking out 401K loans to fund my real estate and personally I love it. 

Lending terms will be important here.I'd say the biggest challenge thus far is making sure I feel comfortable managing this remotely, as it's located about ~150 miles east of Dallas. 

You can very comfortably and at your own pace set yourself up for a very stable start by strategically positioning yourself to be able to buy a property this way if you start preparing now.I hope this was helpful!

The property manager can make or break you, it has to be a PM that is working in that space and is comfortable there.I agree with earlier comments to look in the front and back yards to see how many old cars, abandoned junk, or treasures that aren't treasures are piling up. 

If I don't feel comfortable I also give folks a chance to get a cosigners.

Get out of your comfort zone.

What about tenants that don't have smart phones or  aren't comfortable using mobile apps? 

We comfortably could use the cash flow but could probably survive if reduced by half but only as long as have our tenant at the primary residence.

A primary residence will most often provide more favorable loan terms so if you are willing to wait one year while you living in your new property and are comfortable with renting out your primary residence to a tenant, then getting something such as an FHA loan is a good strategy to minimize your upfront costs and hopefully get better loan terms.

They are too close for comfortable game play.