We don't have kids (might in the future), my husband and I are young and healthy, have stable high-income full-time jobs, and just put in a lot of work to both properties so don't expect huge expenses in the near future.

Would the 9-year balloon concern you, knowing you'd need to refinance or pay off the balance at potentially higher market rates in the future?

Then, if you like some of the comments from a user, you can connect with them directly and perhaps do a 1:1 discussion and potentially discuss what you want to do in the future.

You're dealing with your "bad apple" that will forever help you curate your search criteria whenever you place future tenants. 

If you buy the single now your DTI will be negatively affected for future properties.

I position my inspections as 'planning for future repairs/improvements' which mitigates that whole 'he's here to get my security deposit' mindset.And, I would rather have the tenant with me than to have him later claim that something was broken during the inspection.  

One question for the community is: What are the next best steps I should take to further educate myself and get started in this industry to set myself up for future success?

One time I had a guest smoke and it went right up the ducts into my unit, it was awful.I'm conscious about how that could potentially affect guests who will be staying in the upper unit in the future.

Over the years every single time I went over his house to hang out we would talk about money, investing and the future we were building.

Find a reliable team, offer fair pay, and keep them motivated to stick with you for future projects.That’s what I have off the top of my head.