I have been in property management for 20 years, almost 3 years ago I moved to Birmingham AL to start my investment journey.

She doesn’t need local family to manage it. 

However, I don’t yet have the funds for a down payment on another house, and I’m trying to figure out the best option for where to live while I rent the apartment.Do you have any recommendations for managing this transition or tips on finding a temporary place to stay?

-Management is low - you'll need at least 10% plus leasing costs - typically a month's rent for each lease-up, and sometimes a renewal fee as well-Insurance seems low-Are taxes accurate? 

With your background as an electrician, contractor, and project manager, you have a unique advantage in real estate.

thanks for your time and help 1st off, full disclosure here, Rent To Retirement advertises their properties on my Investment Properties For Sale Show, so I am not a totally unbiased opinion and it's only fair that I tell you this up frontHaving said that, outside of running my show for people like them, I also own a property management company in Northeast Ohio and have worked with 1,000's of out of state investors over the years.I say all of that to say this, the overwhelming majority of negative reviews I have seen on them are very similar to a lot of negative experiences investors have with my property management company and others like it that I've worked with.

Having a long-term rental while living abroad is do-able.Flipping houses while abroad, in my opinion, more difficult, especially if its your first go around with real estate.I would recommend taking a flight and staying in the area for a week and inspect the neighborhoods and make connections.You can reach out to @Elenis Camargo who has a PM company in Jacksonville.Best of luck though.

I have a friend here who has about 140 houses right now, who I was discussing return on equity with.

Quote from @Zara Massoud: Your new PM is correct and the old ones were wrong.The property manager must have your social security or tax ID number on file.

I have 9 partners on the mountain house at $117,500 each, and 10 partners on the beach house at $110,000 each, and I am currently looking for a few more partners on my jungle house near La Fortuna at $110,000 where there will be a total of 7 partners.