If you hate the process of placing tenants, it may be worth it to hire a property manager to handle tenant placement for you.I think finding a new tenant is a better long term strategy if you're confident you can find a higher quality tenant that will cause you fewer headaches.

Courtesy of Dodd Frank, its doubtful the self employed will ever be viewed by lenders as favorable as a w2 employee.

I have one rental property that I have been self managing for about 10 years but I'm looking to exploring and potentially doing my first Flip this year. 

Structuring the agreement properly, outlining how profits will be split, who covers the rehab costs, and what the timeline looks like can ensure the seller feels confident in the process.

I may start with house hacking to build confidence, take advantage of owners financing (this will be my first home), and to build my network first. 

I can’t even confidently say we would hear from them at if if we don’t reach out.

They could self manage for several years, using the rental income, until the next phase of their retirement.If they have a decent amount of financial discipline, they may want to get a HELOC now before they build to get the most favorable rate.

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 might invest in a self-storage facility deal next, which should serve me well during the impending recession -- the four Ds (divorce, dislocation, death, disaster). 

That's why it's important to be confident in your team so you feel like everyone is working together towards a common goal (good investment for you, agent gets paid for their support).