I also have sold quite a few properties in Little Village, but I wouldn't feel good selling one to an out of state investor there as I think you need to be hands on in an emerging area to be successful.

Check out all of them for a company and try to see if a pattern emerges. 

Hi Bohdan,There is a book by David Lindahl called "Emerging Real Estate Markets" which is great.  

Any recommendations on landlord friendly states, that’s also an emerging market. 

No SSN, no emergency address, no work address.

This way when you call them with an emergency you aren’t a new face, but rather a loyal paying customer.

We have the cash to put a down payment of 20%, but we're really trying to find a way to keep most of our emergency fund just that - for an emergency and not draw from this.Looking for a private lender has been confusing and cumbersome, but I think the deal makes sense.

I don't have knowledge of chicago local laws, but the building code would also require emergency egress openings for bedrooms which would likely be even larger than the ventilation rqmts. noted by @Tom Shallcross

I currently own 3xLTR in Virginia, but I'm new to STR and have a couple questions I'd really appreciate some insight on:- I've heard of landlords managing their own account via mostly automation programs/apps, but also hiring someone who works remotely for a very small fee to "manage" correspondence and emergencies as they may arise during a guest's stay.

What is a typical cash position that you should maintain as a landlord to have for repairs, emergency expenses, buying opportunities, renovations, etc?