More knowledgeable finance folks here might chime in.The Goose Creek area is a good area right now with the industries moving in there.  

You have great taxation folks here like @Amanda Han and @Brandon Hall and @Steven Hamilton IITreated as regular income unless you buy it and held for 366 or more days.From Steven Hamilton II```You need to realize the two are separate things and you DO NOT want to have flips and rentals in the same entity.

Fannie/Freddie are way ahead of you and don't feel that folks taking it as far as the lawyer advocates are a good credit risk. 

I know some highly educated people that are just poor at communicating with every day folks and I think their RE business will suffer because of this.I really like the Villa Park and Lombard market and think you'll do just fine staying in those areas.Good luck to ya!

These are the folks I think I should work with locally to where I live:- Attorney for contracts, entities etc.- CPA for taxes, tax planning etc.- Finance sourcesLocal to where I buy:-  Property manager, contractor/handyman, agents/wholesalersIs this a reasonable approach?

I am sure the folks here on this site and locally can help this young Mother out.

The first step I would do is thinking about my criteria, like the area and the characteristics of the properties and type of tenants you are looking for.We started with flip and now our main focus is buy and hold, when we started we found other experienced folks and now we keep sharing and mentoring investors. 

I know the good folks here on BP will come to my aid in my time of need.

They have a main meeting each month which is where most folks start.

There are a number of us in the county who get together, with folks in many different aspects of the industry.