Converting your single-family home into a rental property involves several considerations to protect yourself and ensure smooth operations: Establish an LLC:Liability Protection: Holding the rental property in an LLC can protect your personal assets from potential lawsuits related to the property.Tax Benefits: An LLC can offer tax advantages, such as pass-through taxation, where rental income is taxed at your individual income tax rate.Insurance:Landlord Insurance: Ensures coverage for property damage, liability claims, and loss of rental income.Umbrella Policy: Provides additional liability coverage beyond your landlord insurance, offering extra protection.Deductions:Mortgage Interest and Property Taxes: Continue to deduct these expenses.Depreciation: Depreciate the cost of the property over 27.5 years, excluding the land value.Maintenance and Repairs: Deduct costs related to maintaining the property.Property Management Fees: Deduct fees paid to the property manager.Filing Taxes:Schedule E: Report rental income and expenses on Schedule E of your tax return.Separate Accounts: Maintain separate bank accounts for rental income and expenses to simplify bookkeeping.Lease Agreement:Solid Lease Terms: Ensure your lease agreement is thorough, covering rent amount, due date, late fees, maintenance responsibilities, and eviction terms.Legal Review: Have the lease agreement reviewed by a real estate attorney to ensure compliance with local laws.Tenant Screening:Background Checks: Perform credit, criminal, and eviction history checks on prospective tenants.References: Contact previous landlords and employers for references.Property Management:Regular Inspections: Schedule regular property inspections to ensure it's being maintained properly.Maintenance Fund: Set aside a reserve fund for unexpected repairs and maintenance.Moving Out of State:Communication: Maintain open communication with your property manager.

The magical power of a personal guarantee by an officer of the company is that it aligns the spending preferences of the company with those of the guarantor, which will just happen to align with your preferences.Truly an amazing power, in my opinion.

If I'm going to meet investors in person, it would need to be at a real estate meet up in a group setting or after lots of calls/Zooms.

If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing.

I personally don't like STR's because they are more of a business than an investment(in my opinion).You didn't mention the amount of hours that you and your spouse work but I would have to assume it be between 1900 to 2200 hours assuming you work 48 weeks and between 40 to 50 hours a week.If you buy a STR and self-manage it, you are added 200-300 hours per year in additional work making your life more stressful and less time to do things that you enjoy.Best of luck. 

That sounds like a well-considered plan, and visiting in person is a great first step.

@Jerrell Sweeting   I know in NJ this was the difference between eviction(tenant) and ejection (just a " guest, no money agreement) of a person.   

Then you use those on your personal taxes.

I turned my former personal residence into a rental and have it listed as such, with occupancy coming up within the month.

The seller can remove their ID, banking info, and anything else personal and you can login and add all your information in addition to changing the email.