What would be the biggest help to you atm in your real estate journey? 

Aloha Patrick,  please DM me, I would be glad to help.  

I have a property manager who helps with the booking and renter issues (if any), a cleaner who turns over the property.

Please work with an experienced lender to help you understand the right loan products.There is an operational cost to raising rents that does not seem factored into your process. 

I am considering doing this deal with no agents on either side to save money (savings the seller would pass on to me) - my buyers agent actually suggested that when I explained the situation to her and that I really only needed basic transactional help. 

Plus, houses near good schools tend to move faster on the market because demand is higher.Neighborhood Appeal: Good schools usually mean better neighborhoods, less crime, and more community involvement, all of which help raise the perceived value of the area.

That severely limited the number of lenders I could go to, so I ended up finding a loan product (that costs a premium, albeit) thru Velocity Capital Mortgage that allows fully-amortizing or IO payments (for first 10 years) which will help me build cash flow and accrue title seasoning while I find the right time to pull the trigger on a fully-amortizing DSCR product Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

You want a service that provides a full credit report, full criminal, identity verification, etc.Then it would help if you had clear screening criteria.

My wife and I had help from her father with a down payment on our first home (primary residence) 3 years ago.

Appreciate the help.