The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to get a rock solid lease and good insurance and make sure you keep your property maintained and provide all the safety equipment required by law.I only own one property atm and I don't even own the house I live in so I don't think the risk is worth the cost but once I get a few more properties I will definately get an LLC for my properties.

I'm having difficulty finding contacts that need to place patients / tenants in homes. 

Because if you're patient and don't swing at the wrong pitches you'll be in a position to use your creative finance education to pick up properties from motivated sellers.   

Be patient. 

Be patient.

In Mass you can avoid sprinklers by using 2015 IEBC chapter 14, a quick fire safety analysis of the building and exits. 

It's tougher to get cash flow upon move out these days but if you're patient, willing to do some work, or live in lower cost/fringe areas you can make it happen or at minimum put a serious dent in your housing expense which is still a win in my opinion compared to renting or buying just a primary home.Also if you're a bit short on cash, make getting a seller credit part of your financing strategy.

in Mass you can avoid sprinklers by using IEBC chapter 14, a fire safety analysis of the building. 

I've never feared for my safety though.

Thanks goes to our dedicated accountant, Daniel Barakat, who patiently listened and then taught me how to categorize transactions (I am in sales, not boring math for darn sakes).