All monetary accounts had POD or beneficiaries listed (my sister and myself)  We did not want our parents'names to be tarnished by not paying the yearly taxes and their names published in the local paper as not having done so. 

I then check to see if there are any local laws that limit the number of STR rentals in the municipality.

Condo/homeowners associations supersede any local/county regs.

Do you have local REAs in your area?

Go to BUILD YOUR TEAM at the top of the screen and look for local investors or meetups in your area.

The trouble is that I don’t necessarily have people like that in my immediate circle and I haven’t been working with anybody in my local REIA

Sure if you plug vacasa into it they will do worse than what you can do because they don't give a flip but if you find a good local manager (I use Hyatus Stays) you can find they will do much better than what you can do because it's their full time focus and job.

I like to provide the fix and flip opportunities to local investors, and the stabilized cash flowing rental units to both local and out of state investors who are looking to add this type of product to their portfolios, as there are several, high quality full-service property management companies in the area. 

I'm interested in multifamily but my local market is very expensive, therefore I am looking into how to buy out of state.

If you will be local to your property, I would say first self-manage.