I recommend that they use a property manager.

Pool heaters are expensive but necessary Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

For networking and education, I recommend checking out CIREIA (Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association).

If approaching the seller directly, how do you recommend I go about it? 

That would be my recommendation for next steps. 

@Tove Fox hope you find this copy & paste useful:)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

I highly recommend them.  

When I was 22, I did a house hack, and I highly recommend it.

If you're looking to invest out of state, I'd recommend listening to episode 1049 of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast. 

But I can't recommend something I would not do as an investor myself, so here it goes:1.)