A few quick tips and thoughts for you:- I caution you to try to mix too many goals into one investment/purchase - a place to live, a LTR, STR all wrapped into one will send you shooting wildly in all directions.

Any tips on how to best screen deals, next steps (reaching out to lenders, agents, property managers, timing), or anything else would be much appreciated!

There's a huge % of our country which votes to give up more of their privacy and freedom every time they're given a ballot whether or not it's in their best interest because doing so typically has some "feel good" gift wrap so we find ourselves in a tough situation as social media/tech/business/finance/foreign interests collide under these conditions. 

The strategy of house hacking kept coming up, but there are not a whole lot of podcasts, or articles, or tips on how to make that work with a family and kids.

I do not get any money from TurboTenant, nor am I an owner or investor in the company.They have a referral program where they will send me a $25 home depot gift card for a referral - you don't have to use the referral codeStessaStessa is a website that I use to track all my expenses.It is another free site and you can pull reportsYou even can upload receipts.Roofstock recently purchased StessaCompletely freeZillow Rental ManagerI use this to collect rent.Free for the landlordTenant only pays a fee if they use a credit card to pay rent.  

If anyone has suggestions/tips for getting into real estate investing/real estate career that would be much appreciated!

Thanks Randy for the tips. 

I was thinking along the lines of a $100 Amazon gift card to apologize for the role I played in his week of inconvenience.

I always thought there was a 10k limit on gifting.

Basically just wondering if anyone had any tips for me in terms of what loan I should try and get.