House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.

I'm under contract on a homepath property and need to add llc due to being a domestic violence, they are telling me I cannot because it's not considered a real person,I have to cancel the contract and resubmit an offer as an investor, risking losing my dream home.

Small multifamily buy and hold is personally my favorite strategy.

Anyway the point on the land basis is if you have a very low basis you have just now subjected your land equity to ordinary income and market risks on top of it.Plus personal risk on the loan if it goes bad do you have the money to pay the first off if you need to.  

Know the family of a dead person?

You'll get an idea of the rate, the down payment required, do they want an experienced manager to make the loan fundable at close- where would you get this person is it you?

Making 200 calls per person a day or more with a multi phone line dialer.   

I personally like Mechanicsville and Pittsburgh area. 

I personally had one go from $771/mo to $1250/mo.

But not having someone there with the properties interests in mind to verify the work being done is quality would personally make me uneasy.I would definitely look at a local PM for the long term and then after the first year and hopefully the first round of renewals you can make a more educated decision as to whether or not to keep them around.No matter what you decide to do, congratulations on the investment!