Most are folks that have the emotional control of a 5 year old, controlling attitude, an omniscient narrative in every thread & topic, act like an online hall monitor, and constant attention seeking. 

I really believe that we live in a time where all the information you need to do just about anything is available for free online.

It's not net negative if you are living for less than you would pay for rent...and PS, you wouldn't be earning appreciation or any cash flow on that either.

Here is my system that I have shared on the forums previously:It all starts with online ads, within which are several pre-screening questions I request be answered in their response to my ad.

The FF rates in my zipcode are higher than I expected and their quality is less than what I'm bringing online! 

For example, if they have to take 1/2 day off work and they earn $20/hour and they charge you $80, that would be hard for you to win IMO.

To beat 5.25% mortgage rate....the corresponding, offsetting stock market return would be at least double that...To answer your question requires (1) knowing what risk adjusted return you will be able to earn in the future (2) knowing what interest rates will do in the future.  

An instructor can make it better, but most are online now anyway.

Monitoring open windows isn't feasible in my case, but I can definitely monitor daily electricity usage online  

If you want to understand 5-year outlook, I'd look for multifamily construction data in your area to understand what level of new units is and will be coming online in the near future.