All I can say is that when an investor is the person who's doing the job that a real estate broker is commissioned to do, per state law, that's brokering without a license, which is no bueno and shouldn't be allowed. 

Even if you personally have just a modicum of design aesthetic sensibility, after reviewing 20 or 30 properties, you will quickly be able to get a sense of the winners.My 2 cents,Mike

Welcome, great community here on BP but also in-person in Central Texas, definitely encourage you to get involved in the lots of groups and events in the region!

I had belatedly realized that FHA goes off personal credit and therefore I couldn't use the LLC for it.

@Jared Goldwasseri would strongly recommend you go to Cincinnati in person. 

Small boutique firm, lower mgmt fee, personalized service, good mentions from here (BP forums), focused only on KC.

For context when we do this our biweekly payments have been around $485 per paycheck so around $1,000 per month of lost income per person when we both do it. 

For example, they won't need to cover your personal belongings (furniture, clothing, etc.) because you won't be living there.A landlord policy should cost about the same as a homeowner's policy; it just changes what is covered.

The idea of debt-free is that if a person is going to retire and has to completely depend on the income, they don't want a severe recession surprising them and causing them to default on the debt and losing the properties.In a normal world, I would do that as well.

I've personally sold a number of properties to VA buyers.