Salem Michigan near Ann Arbor, and I'm searching for 1 hour drive locations preferably and so far I only went out to that radius and avoiding Detroit at the moment.

My personal preference is to talk with someone who is where you want to be.

HOWEVER, I personally always prefer to own the entire property.

Also, any tips on how to expedite the process would be much appreciated (i.e. getting signatures for notification from neighbors in person vs. sending certified mail, etc)Thanks in advance!

I personally use US Bank [Big stable bank with Zelle capabilities], Relay [Checking and Savings 3%] and then Quickbooks [high interest rate 5%].

But I get it if you can invest 500.00 U certainly cant buy whole notes or secured positions with such a small amount. becomes a personal decisions make 7.5% with risk of losing it all or buy T bills for about 5% with zero risk.. its up to the individual investors.

My next step after posting this is to reach out to a few similar hosts for the style of property I am looking to invest in and see how well they do on a personal level.

Find a group or person that can give you both education and mentoring. 

thereby allowing these plumbing updates to pay for themselves).I've got the toilets and faucets all picked out (because I have personal experience with these and I know which ones are good) - but I'm not sure what to do about the shower heads...I know that shower heads are an item that can be the biggest money-saver (because these tend to consume more water than anything else).

It also takes a personal guarantee from the borrower.