Many investors in your situation also explore seller financing or subject-to deals to minimize upfront costs, especially if they find a seller open to creative terms. 

And cost is not coming down.

i would love to buy a 3-4 unit that could both reduce my cost of living and cash flow. move out and redo the process a few times every year. 

Also, managing the property as a rental could offer tax benefits.When purchasing, keep in mind condo association fees and maintenance costs.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

There were a lot of costs that we didn't expect like the plumbing had to be completely redone.

It cost about $100K, but it would have cost around $200K if she were to do it from scratch.

I am looking to buy a property in SLC Utah that i would want to try and run as a STR to help offset the cost.

Each one with separate addresses and utilities.We originally put $585k of our own money into the project, and by the time we were ready to go to market in 2023 we were into it for about $2M (the pandemic really threw a wrench in our timeline and costs but also greatly increased the value).

Here is an example of what it costs you to avoid professional advice.