@Nina Erlandson Personally, I have not heard of Obie Insurance.

If you need a conntection in Upstate NY I can direct you to the right person.

He would also be exposed to liabilities related to the property, such as lawsuits or property damage claims, which could affect his personal assets.

I'd be going to as many in-person networking events as possible...here is a list of the BP events:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-real-estate-events-...I have a separate list that is more encompassing that I can share as well!

I won't have time to shop for things in person.

Private Money is simply money from a non-institutional source...such as someone lending out of their personal IRA or from their savings. 

What we found was only one other person contracted under $200 per square foot for clients and they also built within the city of columbus. the numbers have a much higher premium the closer you get to downtown. if you can't get the numbers to work my recommendation would be to get closer to downtown. we do build to rent development and single family home development and every line item is broken out. on the triples we have to build exterior staircases etc there are some things you can't really understand unless you build a lot. hope that helps but no one is going to build you for 110 a square foot. the lowest cost homes in our market at cost without a profit barely dip into 140 a square and we are in one of the cheapest construction markets and states in the country. 

And if they don't deliver, you need a truck and an extra person.  

Personally, I don't see tech company being able to handle the complexities of property management. 

i've managed both OOS and in-person and both can be a pain but OOS is just harder for most new investors, period.