Obviously these deals are inherently risky (like all real estate) and these are not liquid investments so you won’t be able to pull your money out after a year (most have 3-5yr expected terms).

I think it’s just a really scary proposition to not be on-site to oversee a flip.  

@Bryan Montross  I will note that typically moving stairs is a very expensive proposition. 

My question would be how do you ensure in Ohio that without a license what you’re doing is completely legal and you aren’t taking any legal risk. I

Too risky.

In other words, it’s pretty risky to become an OOS landlord and especially by default.

It is also your skin in the game to ensure the contractor isn't taking all the risk.  I

Out of state investing is inherently more risky for the investor, so you want to mitigate this risk by getting the right PM from the get go.

I recently had a deal on a duplex fall through (seller reasons)... so now I am back on the hunt for another small multi-family (we really want to house hack for at least a year, hence the multi family).I am wondering if we were to find a good cash-flowing 4 plex (using bigger pocket calculators), would be at all unwise or “too risky” to go with a 4 unit to start off with vs continue looking for a cash flowing duplex, and maybe next year scale up to a 4 plex.

It is just too risky these days to do a flip, very little margin unless they find their own deal.