It would be ideal if we can purchase well-established vacation homes on market.

Ideally we would partner on the first few deals, but I am not sure how it would work.I went to the REIA Austin meetup last week so that would be an option, but am seeing if anyone else had any other suggestions.

So, I'll ask a few questions that I have and hopefully the BP squad can fill in the rest. 

Applicants with red flags such as bankruptcy, a previous eviction, missing utility payments, or defaulting on alimony payments should be avoided.Rental HistoryA previous rental history is the ideal way to find out how a potential tenant will treat your investment property.

As a  young married couple with decent income, we seem to be in an ideal position to start out investing fairly early, it is only a matter of getting real estate education and making deals happen.I have to confess, I have been a member of BP for about a year now.

You mentioned that is not an ideal situation.

Current tenant may be willing to owner finance since the payment to me would be only slightly more.How would I deal with the pitfalls of the mortgage company calling the loan, insurance, taxes, etc?

State refund check is a decent size, but going straight to emergency savings (which I feel is not bolstered enough if things were to ever go sideways).I'm in this weird limbo with wanting to accelerate debt payoffs AND save a good amount for a venture into RE AND bolster emergency money (like 6+ months of living expenses saved...ideally 9-12 months would be nice). 

Credit it important but not my top priority.....depends on why the credit is lower than you would ideally have.....late payments, collections, huge balances...vs they have high debt but make all their payments...have some stuff lingering from recent divorce etc.

I'm 28 and thinking of buying a triplex that was built in 1910, I would ideally hold this property for the next 15-20 years.