Stay healthy, stay away from bad people.Some ideas to find the deals:walk/drive neighborhoods, look for neglected propertiesadvertise, newspapers, radio, pass out flyersWrite a nice letter to landlordsWhen housing court starts up again, meet landlords there - chatCall and visit owners of Expired Listings - make offersBuild a relationship with a few Realtors, offer to pay them a fee (3-5% of purchase price for unlisted buildings) for presenting your offers to FSBO's and expired listings (auto pilot investing) The purpose behind this is to open negotiations with sellers, I always offer well below their asking price BUT IN WRITING hand delivered by an agent (you save time, cost of gas and you increase the odds of finding a fat equity deal)Study Real Estate Control techniques; delayed settlement, assignment clauses, all types of options, hybrid or JV with sellers, repair consideration with possession (known as front porch offers) use one of the 21 proposals for seller financing (the best highest leverage financing you can get)My LOCK-DOWN has proven to be profitable, I have time to network and develop clients nationwide to mentor/partner transactions.

Basically choose a category such as senior living REIT and check out the REIT's track record. 

The insurance company will contact you directly so it's easy to track.

I'd rather track my money movement with a tool like Stessa and have the properties feeding into the same account to keep my head right.You're thinking well about that downpayment money . . . getting a 1% APY on it and maintaining full liquidity fits the bill when you're looking to deploy that money in a purchase in the near future. 

Best of luck, looks like you're on the right track!

I try and track trends and that's just my take, even with folks saying expensive real estate is pushing young folks to smaller, more affordable locales like Austin, or Raleigh-Durham or whatever.

I have a lot of receipts and I want to make sure I keep track.

So, I think you are on the right track with SFR!

There is a proven and well-worn path that many of us have traveled to reach financial freedom through real estate investing and this book was the start of that journey.Best of Luck! 

There are many proven strategies to achieving financial independence and long term wealth.