Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

If house hacking isn't the best option for me, how would you recommend starting out to build up some investments.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Hey Cecil, if you have the capital to operate locally, and it fits your goals to do so, I highly recommend doing that.Congrats on securing your primary though.

I'd love to hear what other people are doing and recommend; tips and tricks for guarding a vacant property. 

If you spend the entire $300k restoring the property, then here is the end result:- deductible casualty loss of $50k- no current tax- the restored property has $0 basis and cannot be depreciated- when it is later sold, the entire sale price is taxableMechanics and reporting are tricky, and I would not recommend to DIY it, especially since my scenario is over-simplified, and your real scenario is likely to involve more gotchas.Thanks so much. 

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

. - We always recommend buying your first rental locally if possible and DIY managing to learn as much as possible before investing OOS.2) Lots of crooks and incompetents in the PMC world:( They both cost you money.- As already stated, you'll have a small portfolio.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

We would never recommend that for our clients.