Just to add my two cents, I think the most important aspect to be a successful investor, in any market, is to have an excellent team in place that will help cut your learning curve significantly, help you to quickly identify the prime areas to invest in that market and manage your properties effectively!  

This is just for free and selfishly, I just want to connect with more investors and learn more about problems investors face in 2024.

cash Lessons learned?

Looking elsewhere where you at least have familiarity with the market would be next, and if not pick a market to learn about, analyze deals, and hopefully get your first deal! 

Overall, gained $260K in value (based on appraisal) while investing $220K Lessons learned?

As I learned that I also learned how to set up business processes that allowed me to very quickly do the manual work required in running a str business easily and for free.

I am considering and looking at 5+ properties and learning about commercial and self storage.

@Vinay M.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, 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.

I've been investing here since 2018 and have learned that building a strong team is crucial to your success.

You can easily do this on a spreadsheet, and it will take less time to track than finding and learning new software.