I haven't had the guts or opportunity to invest in any real estate with the exception of the house I live in (DIY bedroom addition and various finishing/remodeling has made this a good equity investment though).

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Stop the DIY stuff before it gets worse.

Many OOS investors set themselves up for failure because they don't truly take the time to understand:1) The Class of the NEIGHBORHOOD they are buying in - which is relative to the overall area.2) The Class of the PROPERTY they are buying - which is relative to the overall area.3) The Class of the TENANT POOL the Neighborhood & Property will attract - which is relative to the overall area.4) The Class of the CONTRACTORS that will work on their Property, given the Neighborhood location - which is relative to the overall area.5) The Class of the PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES (PMC) that will manage their Property, given the Neighborhood location and the Tenants it will attract - which is relative to the overall area.6) That a Class X NEIGHBORHOOD will have mostly Class X PROPERTIES, which will only attract Class X TENANTS, CONTRACTORS AND PMCs and deliver Class X RESULTS.7) That OOS property Class rankings are often different than the Class ranking of the local market they live.8) Class A is relatively easy to manage, can even be DIY remote managed from another state.

I could DIY but unfortunately, I have to travel constantly for my main job.

You must set that same expectation up front with your investors.Private placements are not a DIY project.

This has to be fixed, and it is a complicated process, not for DIY.

Find a friendly contractor to walk it with you and give you a ballpark estimate for the changes you envision, even if you plan to DIY.

You can buy a test kit at Home Depot should you have the need.

Once you do decide to procure your first rental, definitely lean on the BiggerPockets community as a resource; I'll also say that it could be worth considering a shot at a software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units) to bring some automation to the rental management process (just to make things much much easier for you)!