I'm from the Southern, MI area and I am also building my real estate media business, Elicit Real Estate Media Co. 

Also if there are any local mentors in my area who would be willing and interested in helping me out I also am connected to Michigan as well! 

Find some areas you want to be and then look at the RE markets.

I would like to purchase a three or four Plex and live in one of the units.I understand I can use an FHA loan or conventional loan with only 3 to 5% down in order to get into the property however I live in a very expensive area and the properties I am looking at are currently 700+. 

This seems to follow the general overall trend of lower cost areas winning at the expense of those with a high costs of living.

I think we are competitively priced, so most of out tenants have been renewing, but we plan to test higher rents in 2025  for our larger apartment buildings to account for the steep increase in insurance prices.There have been A LOT of new apartment buildings put up recently in the Cedar Rapids metro area, so depending on the class of tenant you have, maybe that could account for some of softening you are seeing? 

There are a lot of accidental partnerships created.Would the accidental partnership apply even to my wife?  

@Ankit Maheshwari not sure how far along the process you are, but if you're serious and looking to invest in the Tampa Bay area, reach out to @Josh Green.

Find what works best for you in the area you are looking and put together a team that you trust. 

We are using Priceless to optimize our pricing and it's well within the line of others in our area.