If you want to manage your own properties, I would highly recommend buying within an hour of your primary.

I would recommend looking for local FB investor groups, most areas have them!

It's obviously not a ton of money but how do you guys recommend me investing with it?

City Hall want to keep small town small, does nothing to promote town Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

With a 9-5 job too busy to catch a breather, being that it will be my first rental property would you recommend finding a property management company to oversee the investment property OR create a profile on a property management platform, I am thinking about Avail unless there is a better platform, to collect rent and hire specialist as issues arise from tenants?

also i recommend connecting with @Remington Lyman if he is offering... 

It also depends on how you hold your properties; LLC, S Corp etc... as to what the agent will recommend.

If you spend the entire $300k restoring the property, then here is the end result:- deductible casualty loss of $50k- no current tax- the restored property has $0 basis and cannot be depreciated- when it is later sold, the entire sale price is taxableMechanics and reporting are tricky, and I would not recommend to DIY it, especially since my scenario is over-simplified, and your real scenario is likely to involve more gotchas.Thanks so much. 

I'm looking for neighborhood recommendations in the Sarasota area for a short/mid-term single family or townhome investment in the 400k-500k range.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?