So I would just be putting my first couple properties under my on name, or under my entity with a personal guarantee?

I did just that and after following that advise I have seen a couple I'm interested in especially in my area since it's a renters market.

Except for a couple, one  that was a little more than mine.

If that's the case, you should consider a couple of things:1.

There are a couple of properties I'm interested in that are priced above my pre-approval amount and I'm not afraid to submit an offer based on what I can and am willing to spend, but the agent I'm working with feels it's a waste of her time to schedule a showing for a place outside my approval limit because "there's no way a seller would accept that offer."

He had to deal with many of the exact same issues; non-paying tenants, turnover/foreclosure, and even repairs.Just as an example, he had a lower income couple buy a home from him and they had a bad storm come through and damage the roof.

Trim - there are  a couple places where it looks like something bashed into the trim and took some chunks out.

I'd imagine since everything would be brand new and my father and I have been doing renovations on houses that it wouldn't cost me too much to turn the downstairs into a couple of 600$ a month apartments.

I'm guessing.I also thought this could be a good compromise since if I ever needed to, I could live in one of the units and commute the 2 hours to my office a couple of days a week to maintain some of the income I make locally out here, if I needed to do so.Any advice about this idea?

I currently live abroad but plan on moving back to the States in the next couple of years.