Readers are advised to seek professional advice 

The Chicago Association of Realtors'® specifically state "When you become a Dual Agent, you owe equal fiduciary duties at that point to both parties in the transaction, and you lose the ability to negotiate for, strategize and advise either one."

@Emily Shin, while it can be debated, I would advise house hacking your first deal before investing out of state.

@Anthony Saheed I would advise you to be very careful to recommend people to speculate in volatile real estate markets.

I like this advise, Bill B.

You just have to be careful because some sales agents will just advise you to over improve the property because it makes their job easier.

Self-managing from out of state has been doable, but the challenges have added up, and I’ve realized I’ve missed things that could have been avoided with closer oversight.If you’re just starting and don’t already have a strong local network, I’d advise against self-management from out of state.

Someone advised me to start with an attorney so I suppose that is my jumping off point. 

I have done many 1031, and never did a Reverse 1031 and was advised by the Qualified Intermediary that they are more difficult and expensive. 

Also, I have heard about the benefits of having an LLC set up to manage rental properties but not sure if this is advisable at my stage (e.g., not a lot of properties to manage).