After 20 years as an investor, broker, and lender, I can tell you that house hacking is one of the smartest ways to start.

Hey Joseph, getting hooked up with a better PM sounds like that is going to be your best solution.

Another lever you can pull is marketing the units in a different way if you havent explore getting professional photos done or styling the unit further with a professional decorator.

That way I still have a primary residence and rental properties. 

It's not the best arrangement, but it's worth it because the data is accurate. 

The best strategy I seem to have deployed so far was to contact all my current tenants and let them know I’d give them a cash referral fee of $250 for anyone they recommend to me that goes through the vetting process and successfully moves in.

House hacking and multi-family properties are great ways to start in real estate!

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – so, they often select the first PMC they call or that calls them back!

.), but it's WAY less document intensive than a conventional loan. 

Quote from @Chantel Holsather: I am always an advocate if you can fix up a property to make it more marketable, that is really the way to go.