I'm a licensed mortgage broker and have closed loans with clients out of the country.

Establishing a good local team will be crucial for you. 

thanks for your time and help rent to retirement works directly with build to rent developers like us around the country once they are framed up. you are buying properties pretty much at market value but with a hand holding. you can work directly with a builder or directly with them. they are just an intermediary. they take 5% on what we make as a builder but have a large list of investors and a systemized approach to selling new builds. if you want to get a better deal I'd recommend directly contacting builders and building it yourself. fly to the market. spend 2 days, tour new builds, get a feeling for how it's going. if your builder isn't building multiple at a time then I wouldn't recommend working with them. rent to retirement is a well oiled and well run machine. they've had their ups and downs with dozens of transactions in florida but modified their process. they are well known and established and transparent. if you have a more specific market and feel confident in your ability to vet deals try it out. happy to talk more my info is in my signature. we work directly with them to sell new builds and no organization is perfect but I have good things to say about them as a builder and potential build to rent developer that sells build to rent triplexes and single family homes through them to end buyers in California like the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego 

I understand that starting out, depending on how fast you want to build your portfolio, you could spend a lot of time at it.For those with established investment portfolios, how much time is required to maintain it?

Going to property tours inspired me to obtain my real estate license in the state of Georgia; and look further into property investing and helping others achieve their real estate goals.

I’m a licensed broker agent specializing in selling discounted flips and rental properties in Indiana.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

If so they may have a real estate license or they may work with an agent that relies on repeat business rather than a one-off purchase. 

What you ask and expect of them (beyond the basics) and what expectations can I further establish? 

Lastly, I make sure that we are double checking and doing proper due diligence - I walk the property and do an in-depth investor walkthrough for them, we do a home inspection, we have a licensed GC to walk and write up an itemized bid, etc.And to answer the last part of your question, one of the hottest markets is Columbus Ohio!