@Katrina Schmid, to send a private message, hover over a member's image, and a box should appear with Message as an option in the bottom left.You may need to send a Colleague Request first, but we're already colleagues...

My girlfriend and I will soon be turning 24 and our first property hopefully will be a 1-4 unit.

So, first I'd encourage you,even though technically  you might not need a QI for a simultaneous swap. 

RE is about the most tax advantaged investment class there is. 

Of course, I would have to analyze all of your numbers first. 

Self managing out of state is very easy if in class A or B+ market.

First was in 1994 and the second was in 2014 and he is on probation.

First, you could always sit on cash in a high yield savings waiting to pounce when the time is right.

If Airbnb is an option for your spare bedroom then that's great, personally when I first started I didn't want to have to deal with the in and outs of people and also making my place aesthetic enough that it would rank well on Airbnb so I went straight to long term rentals but if you want to dip your toe in the water it could be a good option if shorter term tenants make you more comfortable. 

May not be able to qualify at this time for conventional financing or the property needs work that they want to upgrade first.2.