I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the current market and any success/fail stories in the Phoenix area.

It’s great to hear you’ve got experience across both Indiana and Florida markets.

If you got a sight unseen, off market offer it could be a low baller.

I use Facebook marketplace as my way of marketing my rentals.

It wouldn’t work in a red hot market like we had a few years ago where everything was selling super fast, but in todays market there isn’t as much urgency to see properties and get offers in immediately.  

My first piece of advice would be to focus on understanding the market you’re interested in.

There's no real hard and fast way or only 1 way or doing your first 2 points. your subject line suggests you're not looking to go to a large shop like a JLL or a CBRE which honestly I don't blame you those offices are usually pretty bloated.As far as monthly costs, if you are going to individually get a costar or other such license you are probably looking at $500-$1000 a month pretty easy in overhead once you have office dues, mls dues, marketing, etc. 

By far your best bet are cheaper markets.

Market Conditions Aren’t Always in Your FavorHouse hackers often assume their property will appreciate and rents will rise, but that’s not always guaranteed.

You'll have better luck analyzing a few properties a month from investors, wholesalers and realtors that can find you off market deals.