Detroit is a great place for that, but as you probably already know, it takes work and strategy.For background, I moved from CA to Troy, MI, back in 2017, lived there for five years, and built my Detroit portfolio aggressively—12 doors in 2.5 years, generating $16,000/month in gross rents.

I am trying to build a nice little next egg first then move onto rentals. 

Most traditional property managers don’t handle this setup due to challenges like managing tenant disputes, coordinating overlapping move-ins/outs, and the risk of Fair Housing violations when selecting tenants.

When a tenant moves out, transfer the deposit back to Checking so it's ready to apply towards expenses or to refund to the Tenant.If you end up with excess funds in the Checking account, I recommend you transfer it to a third account that is specifically designated for future investments.

Our current plan is to purchase our first home and live in it for 2-4 years before moving to a new home and using this first property as a rental, so my fiance and I are currently in the market for a home that we could use as our residence during the offseason and then use as a short term rental or something like that while we are away for 6-7 months.

Lenders will want a letter from your employer that states you are allowed to work remote from where you currently live and that this move will not affect your income. 

However, due to my wife's pregnancy, we decided it would be best to move back to Miami to be closer to family in June 2024. 

I might suggest you connect with @Chelsea DiLuzio as she recently moved to Milwaukee and is originally from the PNW.

Hey Ali, marketing the property yourself could be a smart move.

If they choose not to accept the rental give them x days to move without penalty.