My advice: don’t overthink it—your first house hack is about learning, so pick a strong rental market, ensure solid demand, and lock in a deal that gets you close to break-even or better.

Heck, find all of the listings in your office, and pick the best ones and then reach out to the agents.Ask top agents if they could refer you to any buyers/sellers/renters. 

@Philip Beckwith many times, but have also lost a few times.You pick your battles.

So even if you pick a state with stronger protections like WY or NV, the cause of action arose in the state where the tenant fell, so likely that the court where the accident happened would have jurisdiction.

@Trevor McCormick to piggyback off what others have said, determine if you are trying to maximize it as an investment or utilize it as a vacation home you will STR to help cover expenses, as this could dictate which type of property you are looking for. 

There are tons of strategies, pick one that excites you and run with it until you have mastered it and then you can decide to pickup another strategy. 

We were looking in the Smokey’s and in Florida but we might just shift to our hometown and house back it with the ADU unit utilized for STR. 

I thought it would be fun to start a thread where we can share our craziest fix-and-flip stories, biggest "oops" moments, and the golden nuggets of wisdom we've picked up along the way.

(I am usually lazy about courses and pick + choose my engagement) This feels very different from most things I have "tried" to work on in life (except for when I turned to RSD and Owen Cook a out 13 years ago to improve my dating life which resulted in finding/ attracting and marrying the girl of my dreams!

My 2 cents: it sounds like you've got to pick a lane and stay in it, become an expert, and level up in that lane.