I'm going to start reaching out soon to a friend of a family member who owns a local PM group with roughly 1000 doors for lower income, just to pick his brain, but I can envision a scenario where if I needed to partner with someone to get my first deal and gain some creditability and experience, he may be willing to assist.

April is a safe month to "play the market" if you will, because the market starts picking up as a whole then but, a good reliable tenant to me always seems better than making a few hundred more a month.

I noticed that your initial post was from 4 months ago and would love to connect with you to pick your brain about your progress over last few months :)

Debt financing will be slim pickings

I would advise picking one of those strategies and rolling with it.

Not to say that you'd pick crappy materials, but contractors with experience have manufacturers and suppliers that they know guarantee their products and that helps them know they can stand behind their work. 

Try to pick things where replacement pieces are possible and easy. i ill add that I put in some games we really like as a family, they went missing over a couple of months.

I am convinced because listings sites pick markets they think make them more money to advertise.

If this is your first purchase, Remember it is also okay to pick your closest metro as a starting place.

@Matthew McCarty At the beginning of my investing career, I was constantly looking at websites like Zillow and Redfin to see what houses are selling for so that I have a good feeling on the market I picked.