My goal is to build a sustainable rental portfolio that provides great housing for tenants and solid financial returns.I’m looking for advice, insights, and connections from experienced investors or local professionals.

I know building a reliable local network will be key, so I'm hoping to connect with experienced real estate team in the area.The military presence in Jacksonville catches my eye, and I'm particularly interested in properties that might appeal to military personnel and the associated contractors.

For the areas of interest (you are local so I'll say suburbs west of City Line Avenue) there are few and far between -and- have many investors sitting on large sums of cash to jump on anything that comes up (where I would be navigating a reverse 1031.) 

Super nice guy, and a genius.You can also go checkout Divorce Lending Association and find a local CDLP if you'd prefer.

They can serve the initial notice to vacate but the actual court filing needs to come from you as the owner or through an attorney.Given you're out of state, working with a local eviction attorney is definitely your best bet here.

Current ownership was not local, and didn't have a presence anymore.

A local couple who’se combined income is 300K and who sponsored the family’s immigration to US is willing to be co-signers for the family of 5.I am thinking that Party2 will put more miles on the house and may be harder to deal with in case of any complaints or eviction, though I am not an experienced landlord so I am not sure what are the factors to evaluate or what all can go wrong?

Is there a local developer/builder who might be interested in the whole package?

Focus on tenant screening, building a local team, and learning as much as you can, starting early sets you up for long-term success!

But I am looking for a local CPA.I see no compelling reason for that. 10 years ago, most of the local clients of my firm liked to come to our Houston office.