We started off on a good note with the tenant, he paid his rent on time, and so we didn't have a real reason to get too involved.

We are looking to invest out of state, and we have small cash to start.

This may be a good start. 

I have already started researching Andy and reached out to Justin too, thanks for those contacts.

In my opinion, it's THE best rental to hold in a landlord/investor perspective, AND it is the most complex and detailed to start into. 

When we started, we broke even.

At 10:30am our cleaner will start knocking on the door.One time we had a guest not leave until 11:00am and we charged him a $100 late fee that Airbnb paid us and we gave him a bad review.Hope that helps!

Totally stressed out when starting out, but everything worked out and I repeated the process a few times since.

I only know about the times where this was found out prior to closing, obviously I have no way to know about the times this shady behavior wasn't found out.Since you get a vote in who this tenant is, and it's retail, PSA that commercial lenders (especially the ones offering the best terms...) are starting to vet deals by how 'recession proof' the tenants are, even if they are currently paying on time.

For example, there are quality oceanfront homes for sale (as of this post) starting in the $650k price range. 3/2 slightly dated, but walk down your private stairs to the sand.