Found T&H realty services to be pretty interesting as they provide both buyer brokerage service (to help me find deals) as well as do property management i.e. they are not full turnkey provider necessarily, but reduces some of the hassle for me I guess as an out of state investor. 

I am not allergic to doing work as I have a lawn care business which is labor intensive.

-reduce expenses, maximize income and save up as much as possible.hope this helpsgood luck

Have you considered creative financing options like joint ventures or seller financing to reduce reliance on outside capital?

I like this idea because it reduces the potential vacancy I could have by doing a short 3- to 4-month lease that ends in April or May, then starting over with a year lease.

Thanks Sarah, I don’t see much house hacking going on in Essex or Dundalk in terms of listings on Zillow or FB so my concern would be finding professional adult roommates that want to house share in that area. i’ve been following a lot of the midterm rental groups in Facebook and the consensus is that contracts have decreased significantly and hospitals are using more local labor pools.

Limited labor and resources : Unlike the catastrophic fires in Lahaina Hawaii there are significant resources in Los Angeles to contribute to recover, but quality contractors, tradesman, plumbers, electricians and laborers have long been in short supply.

I have spreadsheets filled with material lists for every phase of the build that includes pricing for materials as well as labor, and sources that I use for them.

Additionally, many states offer property tax exemptions, significantly reducing expenses.

I would also add, a contractor that you can buy materials for and they know how to put them in with little to know direction (reduces the management time of the project).