Goes back to that original thesis in a thread long time ago-- quality over quantity.

.• Use some equity from the sale to make this transition smoother.I’m torn between maintaining our current home as an asset and buying  a new smaller house to use as a rental after we move back in versus simplifying and focusing on a single upgraded property Considering factors like market trends, potential equity growth, and quality of life, which path do you think would be most beneficial?

These are good indicators of quality tenants.You can also adjust how much deposit you take as well.

This is your product, and you are branding it for maximum consumption.

Here is a question i'm wrestling with and would appreciate any advice on: If you plan to invest in an out-of-state market, should you partner with an investing group based in that market... or would it make more sense to simply find the highest-quality mentoring program, regardless of location? 

Every customer is assigned to a group of team members there and I imagine each team varies slightly in quality given the human element!

One capex issue or tenant turnover is going to eat up years of "cashflow".I would advise you to work on getting a smaller number of high quality units rather than scaling to 20.

It could be some sort of skill set for renovations, design for furnished rentals, specific market knowledge, owner occupied loan products for a house hack, etc. 

Never should you be paying 2.5 points on an FHA product.

Quote from @Matthew Beninate: Quote from @Sarita Scherpereel: Quote from @Seo Hui Han: You may want to consider local banks / credit unions just because many of them will require or give you more favorable terms for things like HELOC's and other line of credit products if you have a deposit account with them.