Having it solid in a spreadsheet instead of in your head or on notebook paper and playing with the numbers for the repair budget isn't wrong.

So it can be good for cash flow and building in tighter spaces but it is less of a equity play in today's market if you're looking to sell right away

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

Here's a list of things to track:- Formal lease application- Formal signed and executed lease specific to your state- Payment history (I recommend using online rent collection like Apartments.com, RentRedi, etc)- Maintenance requests and receipts- Accounting for all rental-related expenses (repairs, utilities, etc) The more you treat it like a business, the more helpful you are to your CPA come tax time. 

Quote from @Diana Teng: Hi all,I think my question above is pretty direct.I'm interested to buy my first rental property, and after doing a brief search I see that there are quite a number of places out-of-state (I live in NY state)  that offer affordable homes that deem to be in hot market areas right now (according to many different articles online). 

Be honest—are you waking up early and controlling your day, or are you rolling out of bed and playing catch-up?

Just curious do you find that accessing county records online through the county clerk website works just as well as going in person?

Hi John,I like playing with raw land, too, in Snohomish county, WA, just north of Seattle. 

That will also play into it.