Would like to hear what are some key things to be aware of in this area when selling/buying properties? 

Using an FHA loan with a 3.5% down payment allows flexibility in budget planning.

It provided us with valuable insights into STRs as we considered whether this was a real estate investment strategy we wanted to pursue.

So far, so good, but we've only had tenants in there for about a month at this point.  

I love this question.

The playbook on how to use real estate to build wealth tax efficiently:1.

I'm VERY new to all of this, I don't have much of an idea on what contracts to use, to use or not to use an agent in the process, typical deposit I should put down while finding a buyer, etc.

(whatever it is you use).Some people borrow against their personal residence with a HELOCK for this needed cash, but I've seen those go bad in several instances, and the results were not very pleasant for the borrower.In many instances working a second job can allow you to set aside cash, or you might inherit it, or find a cash filled partner.But the bottom line is, initially your success is measured by how much cash you have to invest.And be careful of Hyperbole.Good Luck!

Anyone with some background in this?

I have a HELOC of 250k that I have been using but I feel like Im not scaling as fast as I could be.