Always good to work with a seasoned rep who is reliable well respected and has aggressively priced products. 

Once you move out, that will ensure you have some money for a down payment on the new home or if you live with them longer term, use that to buy an investment property.You are right in not all homes make good rentals.

The good ones will help keep you out of the bad deals and can help you with your numbers to make sure it is a good deal. 

If I were selling FSBO, I’d still probably price it to expect offers asking at least 2% in either closing costs or buyers agent fees, more if it’s a good first-time buyer area.

If you leverage the state properly you can attract very good tenants that pay high rent. 

You want to ensure you get your feet wet on a smaller scale if you do it on your own or find a good partner to "hold your hand" in the first deal.

I would look at airbnbs that are available in the neighborhood to see their rates, quality, and how far in advance they have bookings. 

Of course, with all things, the answers to all these matters will depend on the circumstances.California tends to have more laws on the books and requirements and restrictions that it can be a good idea to form a CA LLC for out of state property so that you as a CA resident are covered, and to try to have your contracts fall under the purview of CA courts.

But @Drew Sygit brings up a good point regarding filing jointly or separately.

The potential issue is that he may have gotten his interest rate when rates were lower and you may get the deal at a higher interest rate which can potentially have the deal at break even or at a loss.The quality of the deal will depend on what your net income is and what you are putting into the deal.If in the above example and you have the same net income, the deal sounds amazing if you are putting in $200,000 because you have a 10%+ rate of return.But if you are putting in $2,000,000 the deal is horrible because you are making 1%