Best of luck on your learning and investing journey! 

Before making any investments, spend some time learning about real estate investment.

Thanks to plenty of smart people here on BiggerPockets, I have learned that it may be possible to offset a portion of this unexpected higher W-2 income with the purchase and "active management" of a STR. 

Keep learning...but if you really want to get involved, that means you will eventually have to take action. 

I’m still in the learning phase of real estate investing.

Or tools, among a lot others, that you should have in your REI toolbox and learn how they influence each other and how to use them. 

My short-term goals are to purchase one property a year for the next 3-5 years through house hacking but I am also interested in learning about and pursuing other strategies in real estate investing.

@Kyle BrownRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder, etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

@Adam SchneiderRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder, etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

~Learn the best SEO keywords for your area and change as needed.