If you are just starting out, this is for you:When you buy an investment property, it is treated differently than a house you are going to live in. 

I was once told jokingly that we bet on the jockey, not the horse.Next comes the property.

Quote from @Arron Paulino: I had to remove four of my out-of-state properties in order to refresh the listings and start anew.

Ideally, I would like to use the buy and hold strategy, with a 50k budget to get started.  

The best way to start in rentals is by buying in your own area.

Personally I think this is where a lot of sale lease back programs fail the seller.

I do not recommend someone who has never owned real estate to do a fix and flip as real estate is challenging and cost prohibitive, I recommend if never owning real estate to start with an asset that does not need major repairs. 

I started by house hacking a 4-plex, using a 3.5% down FHA loan and later refinancing at 2.9%.

I would guess that an employee in the zoning department could answer questions, too.  

(I distinguish this from towns where you can do Airbnb but only because there's no law whatsoever.)