A solid property management team (or maybe multiple PMs if your portfolio is large enough) is a must for out of state investing.

In the past year we've been through the ringer financially due to bad contractors, deal promises, and generally just being new to the game.

You can often get better rates with a national lender, but the customer service is non-existent, communication probably sucks, they may ask for the same documents multiple times, etc.

But, this house went under contract in 3 days for $20k over ask, with multiple competing offers, in an area where the average days on the market for newly renovated flips is 100+ days! 

Yet it's all a zero sum game, so think about it from winners & losers.

Multiple people bid on that property as well. 

How do I access equity spread across multiple properties?

It's a long game, not a sprint. 

Let’s break this down:The Pros and Cons of SellingPros:Unlock Significant Equity: Selling would give you $500K in cash (less transaction costs), which you could reinvest in multiple properties in higher cash-flow markets.

I think the short term effect on rents is virtually zero - illegal immigrants usually live multiple numbers to a home, rather than everyone having their own space like Americans - but longer term there may be some softness at the bottom levels of rentals. i would be more concerned about the lower economic job market than I would be about rental housing.