As a first time owner, any other tips or thoughts would be much appreciated as well!

Good tips and advice for sureI just mentioned cash for keys as an option, just seeing what everyone would consider my best option.

Thank you for the tip. 

Thanks for tips, was easy to confirm 👍.

Any other tips?

I'd be more into a happy hour group that you can bounce ideas off of/share tips and tricks.

Very useful tips!

Also, with regard to the Property Management, I would advise you to not fall into the trap of not factoring this in for two reasons:(1) Even if you manage it, you could pay yourself the PM Fee as payment for your time spent on the management of the property; and(2) If you ever decide to hire a PM, you already have that factored into your numbers and so you can be confident that the numbers still workThe biggest tip that I can give you is don't handicap your income potential by failing to account for the base expenses that need to be considered when assessing a properties ROI. 

@Bruce RunnExcellent Bruce, thanks for the tip!

That being said, one tip I can give new investors and out of state investors is to have at least some sort of grasp on the neighborhoods to invest in before just diving into making offers and such.With Chicago being such a large city filled with a ton of vibrant neighborhoods, I don't believe that it should be up to you as a first time investor or out of state investor to learn about these neighborhoods through your own research.