I chose the full service pricing which was a higher fixed percent than the piecemeal pricing but I wanted inspections, I wanted us aligned on keeping good tenant, etc.  

We lived here for 18 months then placed a tenant.

We ended up having to pay a professional bookkeeper monthly to manage it.

There are a lot of real estate meetups/groups that you can find happening in NYC and surrounding areas with a quick google search - I actually host a small one every month as well you're welcome to attend to network with folks. 

. $100/month on a 150k property).

pid=2107Houston Real Estate Highlights in July, 2024:-Single-family home sales rose 1.8 percent year-over-year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from 42 to 44 days;-Total property sales were down 2.1 percent with 8,969 units sold;-Total dollar volume increased 4.4 percent to $3.8 billion;-The single-family median price increased 2.9 percent to $350,000;-The single-family average price rose 4.7 percent to a record high of $445,440; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 4.3-months supply, up from 3.1 months last July;-Townhome/condominium sales continued to decline, falling 19.5 percent, with the median price up 0.7 percent to $221,500 and the average price declined 0.8 percent to $261,123.

That should abate in the next 12-18 months, and as new units stop hitting the market at their current pace, Phoenix may see solid growth, especially as the market seems to have solid inbound demand fundamentals, good jobs, tech presence, etc.

wonder if there are any other services I can use?

The couple lenders I've spoken to thus far told me they're completely underwritten based on my personal debt, assets, income etc. and not on the properties debt service.

I do have an empty lot next to my current SFH , doing nothing (but costing me money to mow :)) my thought was to build a detached guest cottage to serve as an overflow for guests or it could also serve as a seasonal / monthly rental.