You might find local meetups or online groups where you can share experiences and learn from others who have successfully navigated the process recently.Also, be sure to analyze the numbers carefully to ensure that the investment makes sense for you.

What strategies do you use to build strong relationships with private money lenders, and how have these connections influenced your investment success?

There are a lot of requirements towards the qualified opportunity zone of which you didn't mention the three most difficult parts1) The funding of a qualified opportunity zone needs to be through capital gains.2) There has to be an entity structure of which there is more than 1 owner3) You have to materially rehab the propertyTalk to an accountant to make sure you have all the requirements met.

You can rent out the spare rooms to roommates to build experience and save more money for your next investment.  

I have great credit, some money saved up and ready to start investing.

It was like that money did not exist.

Gary Dale McKee You had better make sure your unit can accommodate them.

And you need to weigh those pros and cons to make sure Section 8 investing is the right decision for you personally.

I would suggest you use a different non-qm loan product that allows for family members to occupy but doesn't require you to make it a primary residence.

BP has saved us a lot of time and money already with just our first property.