It will help you to know there are many forums available on a wide variety of subjects.

Wheelbarrow Profits Podcast - While they have a variety of different guests, Jake and Gino have several interviews with individuals who have scaled quickly and achieved success in the multi-family arena.

there is a wide variety of properties to buy in Indy.. choose wisely... and remember that sub 40k to 50k all in turn key homes are generally tough go for out of state folks.. if you buy on the top end of the market like outside the loop.. you stand a better chance of achieving your goals.  

You can even download a copy and set your own filter parameters.The first 8 I didn't like for a variety of reasons (Naples has a snowbird problem and is going to be underwater any year now, Horseheads is small and I'm looking for good property managers, Pittsburgh has been struggling macroeconomically...)I did like the look of Milwaukee.I listened to BiggerPockets Podcast #73 with Mehran Kamari, another California investor who partnered with Dawn Anastasi to be his "boots on the ground" and help make his first out-of-state purchase in Milwaukee.

What about some flowers under the windows in front of the brick?

For a variety of reasons if I were proceeding with this I'd try very hard to fit two two bedroom one bath units in there over the configuration you proposed.There's nothing wrong with your deal.

The benefits of using someone local really come down to the fact that you can shake their hand and physically sit in a room with them.The benefits of deciding to use someone non-local come in a variety of forms, but mainly the fact that you have a wider pool of CPAs to choose from and therefore will more likely find a person with focused expertise to handle your tax situation. 

Flowering Peach and Apple Blossom awful streets.

Bryan,I believe that this is meant to be a "hedge", similar to a hedge fund; this is an excerpt from the wikipedia write-up on hedge funds:As the name implies, hedge funds often seek to hedge some of the risks inherent in their investments using a variety of methods, ...IMO, Rich is concerned about certain risks that he has already posted, and the methods he is using seem to be intending to ward off the situations that will result if certain risks actually occur.

As a buy / hold investor the aspect of PM that excites me the most is the Improvement of a neighborhood through beautification (landscaping, hardscaping, architecture etc)(flowers!!