As a result, I would spend more time trying to understand who they are partnering with than anything else.  

Quote from @Colby Burns: You can also partner with an Investor friendly Realtor who has a team of PMs, GCs etc for you.  

I recently had a conversation with a Russian-speaking realtor from Ohio and wanted to share some insights:Competition among investors is very strong.

I bought these two houses that were next door to each other with a partner using hard money (3pts, 13% interest, and 1% extension fee every 3 months after the initial 6 month term).

Here are the numbers:IncomeTotalPartner ContributionsManaging Partners Debt$0.00Partners Deposits$987,459.99Total Contributions$987,459.99Operating IncomeAirbnb Income$50,186.50Square Income (Vehicles or add-ons)$6,741.04Total Operating Income$56,927.54Total Income$1,044,387.53ExpensesPurchase of propertyCost of House-680,000.00Closing Costs-$26,744.44Total Cost of Purchase-706,744.44Set Up ExpensesHouse Improvements & Care taker home addition-116017.03Adding Tiny House-52130.83Furnishings-68403.65Vehicles-43150Set Up Costs and Advertising-2339.53Total Cost of Set Up-282,041.04Operating expensesCare Takers-14535.9Additional Cleaners-1505Cleaning Supplies-2670House Supplies-1340Landscaping-4230.66Utilities (Power & Water)-8204Internet-315Pest control/fumigacion -120Pool cleaning/maintenance-2220Vehicle Gas-552.3Vehicle Maintenance and Repairs-6625.01Welcome Food for Guests-115Property Repairs-4999.64Bank Fees-1208.06Accounting Fees-1085Insurance-955.74Other Expenses-1071.2Total Operating Costs -$51,752.51Total Expenses-$1,040,537.99Net Income$3,849.54Net Operating Income$5,175.03Now 5k for an investment of 970k is not a good investment.  

Hi @Joshua Manier,**I'm not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned**Your strong financial profile and low LTV puts you in a great position!

My advice: don’t overthink it—your first house hack is about learning, so pick a strong rental market, ensure solid demand, and lock in a deal that gets you close to break-even or better.

If you are looking at FHA because of credit score, then I would work on credit scores to qualify for conventional financing or see if you can get a very strong coborrower with high scores.  

Building strong relationships with lenders is critical and the easiest way to do that is to be easy to work with. 

@Lauren MerendinoI strongly believe that your chosen market should be somewhere that you can go to in person / have strong personal knowledge of / have family or a network in already.