You’ve gained valuable experience from your first duplex and are now approaching real estate with a strategic mindset

I don't know the rules in the US, but in Canada, you can do that every 2 years and when you sell, you don't pay taxes on the capital gains.

Also Chip and Joann Gaines and put this town on the map with their show on TV.

We are looking to do long-term rentals for a buy-and-hold strategy, starting to build up our portfolio and gain momentum. 

Investing close to home allows you to gain hands-on experience, learn the ropes, and be more involved in the day-to-day.

However, this allowed me to gain initial experience and confidence without being overwhelmed by managing multiple platforms simultaneously.

Depending on comfort and cash, it might be a viable option as you can build equity and then sell without having capital gains, assuming it's your primary residence and you've lived there for 2 years.

The great thing about living in a high cost of living area is that your salary / wages are hopefully also very high.If you are a new college grad, I would focus the next 1-3 years on increasing your salary as much as possible(gain new skills, new certifications, change employers, etc).Once you make more money, you can easily get in a position to buy a property on a more frequent basis.Best of luck!

And, the longer you wait to act, the longer the squatter stays - and even gains some legal protections to stay while your waiting on a slow court system to act on an eviction. 

Given the size of the asset, these won't be huge, but something to consider.REWARD - In addition to the benefits stated above, the only other reason I could see doing one on an asset this size is if you wanted to offset a property sale that would have a large capital gains.