It is fraud for them to take that "money for keys" arrangement with no intention of fulfilling their end of the agreement.That may help to change their minds about playing you.

Aloha,Develop a process for each stage of your operation (client/property acquisition, application, move in, tenant management, move out, rent prep, marketing), and stick to it!

Meetups and networking have been very beneficial as I'm still in the early stages of my investing journey and real estate career. 

I was able to arrange the funds to buy it all cash from a private lender so the closing costs were minimal.

I'm playing the buy it, set it and forget it strategy and somewhere I can get a reasonable return while I hold it is very important for me at this stage in my investing career, perhaps 10 years from now I'll have a completely different objective.I'm not sure if you intend to live where you are buying but keep that in mind as well if you are, for your own sanity. 

During periods of heavy rain and high heat, this place EXPLODES in growth rate, just a massive difference from what you get with less precipitation and cooler temps.So even though I make arrangements with my tenants to cut the grass at my places, as the self-managing landlord, I still drive around every week and more frequently during rainy/hot periods and  and monitor what's going on.

I'm also wondering if I should attempt to hire a project manager on a part-time contract ish arrangement. 

So, my question here is, when looking for rental properties this winter (or longer if the arrangement is right) and now searching for place to also use as passive income, how do I present myself and my idea to owners? 

Hi Michelle,Sorry to hear that you're having to go through with this towards the last stage of the process.

The cashflow possible when renting by room to students is high, and that is what I need for stage one of my FI journey.