Check Furnished Finder, Zillow, as well as AirBnb and VRBO (30+ day stays) to see what sort of competition is in that specific market.

Keep it short and respectful of their time, and offer to meet in person if they’re open to it.Join Tacoma-specific Facebook groups.

And don’t sleep on local banks or credit unions—they sometimes offer flexible portfolio loans that could work for a deal like this.Since your wife qualifies as a first-time homebuyer, check out any state-specific programs or HUD options for down payment assistance.

For rental comps, tools like Rentometer, Zillow, and Apartments.com are great for comparing similar properties.Feel free to share a specific property or area, and I’d be happy to help guide you through running rental comps.

In many cases bigger banks or lenders have specific programs that cater to first time home buyers and investors. 

We do our best to ensure our customers realize their full potential ROI, but we can not guarantee a successful outcome as this is the risk that is associated with investing in real estate.

They might have insights on specific zip codes or pitfalls to avoid. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521

I would probably go with a HELOC as you won't have to pay for what you're not using unless you've got a specific property you're going to be buying with that money so you know you won't just take out the loan and sit on it paying interest all the while. 

There are a lot of good meetups for real estate investors in the area that would be good to grow your network and learn from others that are and have been in your shoes as a new investor, message me and I can share on some specific monthly meetups.Also sharing some multifamily data, this is Boston proper so it has an interesting trend compared to the rest of Massachusetts.

Improved the property from its original state What was the outcome?