@Christopher StevensI appreciate your sharing your experiences so far. 

In our experience, things move in ebbs and flows and the speed of rental depends on your asking rents relative to competition.For example, there was a period of several months at one of our properties when a 3 or 4 BR unit came on the market it rented almost instantly. 

It's now almost impossible to get a mortgage with a FICO score under 560-580 range.Overall, the housing market has higher average FICO scores and more equity than the 2008-2010 period.This makes it much less likely we'll experience another Great Recession, but there are no guarantees.

Also just look online and steal some ideas...I used to Google Luxury Kitchens and then figure out how to do the same for less $$.You'll be fine with your experience.

If anyone has experience with their lead quality, conversion rates, or overall value, I’d love to hear your insights.

We had a couple "we buy ugly houses" type companies come in and offer less than even the lot itself is worth. I

Your first year will be a learning experience, you will want to be close to the action, as you may not have the capital to pay someone to handle everything.

Nobody ever went broke over a duplex, I know this now,  but I have to admit I had some serious doubts about this when I started 16 years ago, I bought every course I could find, already on CD's, this was post cassette tapes lol, and I paid RichDad Education for a one year coaching program (turned out my coach was a girl in a call center without any actual experience). 

She has quite a bit of experience regarding investment real-estate purchases.

I look forward to reading more of your experiences.