Good luck on your journey!

I am not sure how active his company Open Door is on BP.

Although the journey has been worth it, I've sacrificed quite a bit from a personal lifestyle perspective, relationships, etc.

I did notice end of 2024 to be more active and January to continue that streak compared to 2023 and start of 2024.

Joining BiggerPockets is a fantastic first step – it’s where so many great real estate journeys start.

Refinances are still active, slim pickings but some players are out there who are direct lenders, flip loans are also available (75-100K) min property other than conventional and gov backed loans.  

So I get your hesitation to be too demanding and your desire for the problems to go away as fast as they can, however since you have NO property manager ( I don't use one either), it is incumbent that you take a more ACTIVE approach with management of your property.Let's review your situation.  1st time leak occurred, you sent a plumber over to find the problem.  

I really want to start my investment journey but I'm not sure if an out of state property would be a good choice while renting in NYC or if we don't move, to move to a cheap market, live in the property for a bit and then rent it out.

Upon further review, there is 1 active Type 2 STR permit on this blockface prior to your STR application submittal, but a system glitch did not capture it on the OneStopMap.

It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and we even had a failed attempt with another PMS (but I’ll keep those details to myself).