We had a client that bought in Port huron and then ended up selling their property because they went through 3 PMCs and gave up trying to find a great one:(Some copy and paste advice below:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend 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 (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), 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.

Hey @Christopher Morris,I piggyback on some of the others, but I'd connect with a referred lender ASAP to go over your options/budget/pre-approval.

Then, when something looks odd, you can reference the deep-dive report to better ID it:)

@Adam RossRecommend 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 (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), 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.

On the other hand, owning rental properties gives you full control and the best tax perks but also requires the most work and risk management.Whichever option you lean toward, always diversify across deals and sponsors, and don’t hesitate to ask for references or do background checks.

When you say ‘market to my avatar,’ are you referring to a specific type of audience I should focus on? 

Starting with single-family and small multi-family properties is a smart choice, especially out of state.

Even flips are getting razor thin margins (see reference below). 

Tagging people who have no choice but to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel is not persuasive.

But I agree with you that staying in the US for investment is probably the best choice.