Research local rental demand, especially from military and university tenants, and consider balancing your portfolio with single-family and multi-family homes.

The reason is that one wants to be able to properly avail themselves to the laws and protection of the corresponding state where the property lies.

Popular markets often include beach towns, mountain retreats, and areas with strong tourism.It’s also important to research local regulations, occupancy rates, and management costs to make sure the numbers work.

Tenant covenants and agrees to pay interest at the maximum lawful rate or eighteen percent (18%) interest, whichever is less, compounded annually, on all unpaid Rent, damages, and other amounts owed by Tenant, excluding late fees, from that date of Landlord’s final accounting until such time Tenant pays all such outstanding amounts.

Check into your local regulations.

You can work with a local credit union that does HELOCs, Home Equity Lines of Credit or Loans, on investment property.

I agree with where Nicholas is going, first, if it's feasible I'd recommend house hacking some type of multi family or even a single family that's local to you. 

Start local.

Partnering with investors, attending local meetups, and building a strong network would be key steps.

Cracking and structural problems occur because the sinking of the home is not being 100% distributed but usually only localized causing an imbalance.