I am a former football player at Auburn University and Fort Lewis College.

I grew up near there and am familiar with most of the players now that I've been actively investing for 4+ years.  

If nothing else there is principle pay down on the mortgage gaining you wealth over the long term.I'm a long term player, I fully plan to pay my mortgages for 30 years and actually own the properties I buy some day.One last thing to be aware of is this property will likely negatively effect your DTI which may make future financing harder.

House staging sounds like the perfect place to get to know the players and introduce yourself.

(Doesn’t have to be local but I prefer the pleasant touch of a local broker instead of the national players that give you a great interest rate but charge 3 times as much in fees.)

I will appreciate any feedback from seasoned players 🙏

That said, they leave lots of room for smaller players as they often suck (technical term ;-) in certain areas, or for certain data. 

I know there are a good number of players of turnkey companies who handle SFHs in that market --USREEB, Norada, Pinnacle, etc. to name a few -- but I can't seem to find any that specialize in multifamily properties (duplexes, triplexes, etc.)More importantly, do multifamily properties WORK in the KCMO market?

I've heard stories as well of Sheriff Sales being like the wild wild west at times (the big players bidding up properties just to keep the new players out of contention) but haven't experienced anything like that first hand. 

Keep hitting the social gatherings and REIA meetings and you'll get to know who the big players are.