I purchase my personal investments to maximize their equity and hold long term.

Do you think they're worth the investment, or do most buyers still prefer in-person showings? 

I am still personally buying rentals but I am not expecting much in the way of cash flow at the moment.

The person I would seek advice from is a CPA about this. 

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

Living in one unit and renting out the others allows you to deduct 75% of expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and shared repairs as rental expenses, while the remaining 25% applies to personal use.

I personally like index fund investing in funds like VOO.  

@Kris Lou Many factors go into PMC pricing:1) Locality (city/state)2) Neighborhood & Property Class (time to manage Class A < Class B < Class C < Class D)3) Property condition (slumlord properties hard to manage)4) Number of units (some economies of scale, but not as much as owners think)5) Owner expectations (some owners really want a personal assistant!)

Initially I didn't have a personal connection to the area and didn't know much about the city.

Managing five rentals can eat up a ton of time in any given week, often at times that are inconvenient to you and your personal interests (family, hobbies, travel, etc.).Of course you can manage on your own.