My role beyond the financial investment is property management.

I have mad a series of smart financial decisions over the last 10 years that have put me in a great position to go out on my own and take this on as a full time career. 

It would be better if you take it to small claims court (assuming amount is small enough) and get a judgment. 

Is the goal with rental properties to create immediate financial freedom, or is it to provide for retirement as part of a diverse investment strategy.

Some cases don’t make it to court, in that case mailing obituaries, asking estate sales or funeral homes for referrals are not bad ideas.

Other marketing methods that I have heard of working well are looking at court documents such as foreclosure lists, divorce filings, etc.

We definitely need to make some connections on the financial side so we have the ability to grow more quickly. 

If so, then financially speaking you should access that equity.

Top two things to do are to:educate yourself on the different aspects of RE, figure out what makes the most sense for your life goals, and to pursue a deeper knowledge of that areafigure out your financial situation because that will dictate what you can/can't doI guess that was more than two things...

We would like to purchase a SFH in the area and my question is this: In the long run, what would be more financially wise, holding onto our current property and scraping together a small downpayment for a less expensive SFH or selling our current property and applying a $100,000 downpayment toward a larger SFH?