I believe we are late in the real estate cycle and there might be a drop in housing prices (which I am ok with), and in such a scenario I would like the rental income to be able to at least cover the mortgage payments and would be ok with paying for other costs out of pocket. 

I believe we are late in the real estate cycle and there might be a drop in housing prices (which I am ok with), and in such a scenario I would like the rental income to be able to at least cover the mortgage payments and would be ok with paying for other costs out of pocket.

A company that believes in their systems will stand behind it.

If it's a rental property, you can do a 1031 but I believe it must be used on the purchase of the property not on the repairs.

Our Realtor suggested that we put in a $1000 limit since there was multiple offers and some were believed to be over asking price.

Nevertheless I think AirBnB can work for many people although a lot of people believe they are more profitable than they usually are.  

So far, I've started working with a real estate agent I think is great, and also believe I've identified a property manager that I think is a good fit for me.The agent has been bringing me deals that seem to fit my parameters.

Not only is this not correct but I certainly also don't believe that $1200 per year is sufficient.- With ~18K for expenses and ~63K of income, that works out to ~29%; extremely unlikely (to the point that I would buy a lottery ticket first - at least I would know what I am going to loose ;).

Also, I've heard of HomePossible and HomeReady conventional programs, and I believe HomeReady you can own other real estate and still do a low down payment program, but I'm not sure if that's only for single family homes only.  

I believe that will happen over time when I am able to find the right deal and network with the right people.