First person I hired, I also had them write their own job procedures and so on.

Those in themselves are great education.Degrees won’t help you much unless you are trying to get a job at a large fund.

If you haven’t already, I’d scope out the municipalities around town.. from what I read in The Economist, the Phoenix metropo area continues to rank high for job growth, which usually bodes well for new builds.

Indeed, non-EU purchasers only represent a few percent of the houses bought in the country and the properties they generally buy are not affordable properties so that tax wouldn't solve anything and would bring less capital and less jobs to Spain.

You definitely want to use a thorough screening method like rentprep.com that gets their income, credit, background check, and call at least 3 references (make sure to verify them by address/job and then their name).  

Great job for taking the leap.

Do you have a PM or is this your job now? 

I drop them and use a competent local RE agent, who did a great job.   

Here’s some context: Property 1: >$100k in EquityValue: $325kDebt: $220k @ 2.88% (30-year fixed)Property 2: >$70k in EquityValue: $325kDebt: $252k @ 3.38% (30-year fixed)Extra considerations: - I have $15-20k liquid to use for any of these deals- My current job is relatively stable, but not high-payin- Current properties in TX, living in NY, looking to invest in Mid-West (crazy, I know)- No other debt obligations besides the two mortgagesUltimate goal/timeline: Though a bit ambitious, I’d love to build up the portfolio to 10-20 units in the next two yearsI understand that any/all replies aren't financial advice; all ideas welcome for information purposes. 

I know a great agent in the area who helped my friend buy in Ogden and did a great job negotiating.