Obviously, I’d have to account for utilities and furnishings- I want those that have experience in this area and then maybe I could converse more on such items to look to before signing a contract.

Quote from @Michael Galace: I'm utilizing their service, been with this agency for 5 months now. 

Credit scores are made up of many factors, one is the utilization of an account vs its credit limit.

If you have a better interest rate than available in today’s market would utilizing/exploring a HELOC make sense for your next investment?

I drove to the house, explained the situation to the tenants, and emphasized that we needed to locate the leak.When the utility worker arrived, he wasn’t in the best mood.

By utilizing one provider for both services, both can be aligned, customized to your portfolio’s needs which should achieve a better outcome overall.Real estate investing can be very complex and navigating taxes, compliance and insurance can be overwhelming and complex, deterring some people from expanding their portfolio or from investing at all.

I'd love to utilize their expertise when assessing a property since they are local but I'm not sure what the general expectation is when I don't have a tangible property and I have not entered into contract to work with them yet.Some questions I have are: local regulations/permitting timeline, property's potential from their perspective, landscaping/amenities cost estimate (they also help facilitate this).

Hi Radhika-Congratulations on being a homemaker with young kids and looking to do more for the family financially now that the kids are older.You have 50K to get started but are having difficulty choosing markets and deciding where to begin and you are thinking about single-family long-term rentals out of state because you live in California.I would encourage you to start with duplexes, preferably with 2 bedrooms in each unit for tenant longevity, and ideally with separate utilities.

Research local market rates to set competitive rents, and consider offering utilities or furnishings to attract tenants.

While I don’t suggest that the smaller type investor purchase and utilize “exotic” vehicles like foreign asset protection trusts, family limited partnerships with outside controls, or Byzantine or convoluted maze of ownership entities, the more simple strategies of using Series LLCs, self directed retirement plans, and paying off their home mortgage to the extent of the Federal BK homestead exemptions can insure that a plaintiff attorney never even considers going after them.