If you're willing and able, I do recommend the "house hacking" strategy which is just a fancy name for buying a rental property and living in one of the units, because you'll get very favorable financing - an owner-occupied fixed-rate 30-year mortgage.I'd also say, analyze that property as if you won't live there and it's a pure rental, and make sure the property is still cash flow positive if there's a tenant in your unit because then you'll know if it's actually a good investment.And when you analyze it, include payment of a property manager in your #s because if you don't, and doing so would make it go cash flow negative, then you've just bought yourself a job because you literally can't step away from managing it without losing money.

This seems strange since PPMG (my property management company) is vetting these renters.

Property managers and agents can be really helpful as well as they’ll give you insight into the market and could have some opportunities for you down the road.In the meantime, try researching the areas you're interested in.

We live in Northern Florida and manage our 10 long term rentals and do flips in northern Florida and we decided not to go that route with this south Florida home after we started digging into it.  

We use Avail.co to manage our rentals' leases, rent collection and checks.

Great, there is a lot of guides and resources on managing properties here, and analyzing deals.

Hello everyone!  I’m excited to get started on my real estate journey. I’ve done a couple of fix and flips but I’m looking to build a rental portfolio. I’m looking in the DFW market initially and I’m definitely open t...

There are online platforms like Rentable.com that will handle opening the correct accounts / all compliance tasks related to managing deposits 

What I'm hoping to find: I'm hoping to make connections, for mutual benefit; this could be investor friendly agents who have experience with identifying promising house hacks, investors who are looking for an additional financial partner, investors who are looking for a partner to help manage the load of projects (I am naturally drawn to planning and execution), and more broadly anyone who is willing to share experience and create new connections!

The experience varies based on location, tenant management, and financing, but overall, it’s an excellent way to get started with minimal upfront costs.Good luck!