Plan is to connect with him for guidance on the entire process.

Easiest thing to do is to utilize your channel manager to create one (most have this feature) or maybe consider houfy.com or craftedstays.co, they are specific for creating direct websites.

But if your goal is to leave your day job soon, multi family will offer more cash flow typically.

Our goal was (and is) to purchase something that at least breaks even and that we can use occasionally. 

Best advice is to learn from others and take calculated risks.

A good baseline is to calculate material costs (e.g., $300 for paint and supplies) and add a fair hourly rate for labor.

Paid platforms often offer additional features like market analytics, off-market property leads, and filters for investor-specific criteria, giving them a leg up over free options.Exactly, most platforms have to offset cost somewhere because of how expensive it is to keep the data up to date.

I am pretty new myself to real estate investing but my plan is to own many LTRs .

Good pro tip is to not tell the tenants you're moving into next door that you're the owner but just affiliated with the property manager.

Best approach is to have your "team" set, before going out to secure properties.