I'm in my late 30s and I'm enjoying life more than ever.I'm fitter and healthier than i was in my 20s, have a better perspective about what to stress about and what I don't.

I like @Tom Shallcross's idea to buy outright and refinance later as this provides you a healthier immediate cashflow when you consider there is no mortgage to pay and still gives you the availability of some capitol to pull out for repairs or your next project and is a concept I had not yet encountered in the sense of an initial cash purchase.

And for the landlord registration, I think it's a decent idea, but could screw up the whole ecosystem really fast, especially if they come in too strict.  

Make the mindshift to view low income rentals to be apart of an inner connected ecosystem. 2.

I chatted with him a bit, and asked specifically about the role of individual investors within the P2P ecosystem, given how much institutional money is flowing in (also to the RE platforms BTW).

All the education is the same more or less, it just depends on your target market and the ecosystem you get. 

Run your numbers to see if you could withstand 11% vacancy for a few years in a recession, but expect 7% or so in a healthier market.

VRBO is bad, I've had nothing but bad experiences (albeit only two) from it.For some reason reviewing isn't in the VRBO ecosystem culture, so it's hard to vet exactly who they are and if they're legit.I had to file a claim because my first VRBO guest cancelled their credit card, which in turn had me return the money.

Kiawah is such a unique ecosystem so also looking for feedback from anyone who currently owns an investment on the island.  

My wife and I currently live in Surrey BC, however she is an American working as a health care professional in Bellingham so we are actually looking to house hack our first purchase somewhere near Blaine or Lynden.I initially joined bigger pockets for the educational material and tools, but when I realized there was a whole ecosystem of people on here I became pretty excited to meet and network with other experienced real estate investors and agents in the area.Our short term goal is to house hack a 4-plex somewhere north of Bellingham and then once we have taken that first step we can start to look outwards in terms of investments.