Hey Deirdre,To address your questions:Providing freedom by handling day-to-day operations.Offering peace of mind through proactive maintenance and tenant communication.Reducing risks by staying ahead of legal requirements, tenant screening, and dispute resolution.Enhancing the bottom line by identifying cost-saving opportunities while ensuring tenant satisfaction to reduce turnover.Is the experience still important when the property thrives financially?

Focus on tax-saving strategies such as cost segregation studies and bonus depreciation to accelerate deductions.By qualifying as a Real Estate Professional (spending 750+ hours annually and materially participating), you can offset your wife’s S-Corp income with real estate losses, reducing your tax liability.

True re the prior poster, re this helping the seller save their credit, if you buy sub-to you will dramatically raise their FICO since the mortgage will show on-time payments.  

They did contact me asking to invest despite initially telling me it was full (space opened up, etc, etc) but I just ignored them after learning other's experience.I am happy I saved someone from this group. 

I currently have around 100k tied up in sticks right now which I would prefer to leave in and just continue to save with the plan of getting a place in the next few years, I would get a second job to raise the funds.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Just trying to save others who care to be saved. 

The owner also needs to save for big ticket items that may need to be replaced every 10 or 20 years such as AC, hot water heater, furnace, roof.  

Quote from @Brandon Croucier: Hi Kathy, at the end of the day the mortgage industry is so vast & wide it's essentially like trying to navigate the Sahara Desert.I highly recommend working with an experienced mortgage broker who knows the ins and outs of the industry to place you into the most competitive product for you.More times than not, people save money working with a small shop broker.Kathy,I wanted to revisit this to offer a a tad bit more and Brandon above is correct.

You'll have access to owner occupied loan products, therefore saving on your down payment, typically 3-5% compared to 20-25% for non owner occupied properties.