I think that area is going to be all about who you know and ensuring you have an excellent PM, cleaning company, and system for turning over the property/checking guests in before you buy.

@Greg Dickerson Thanks for your excellent advice.

Currently I track rent and expenses in excel.

You made so many excellent points there.

Excellent location, but half of retail space has been vacant for years.

Thank you everyone for the excellent information.

I would suggest maybe asking for the highest allowable security deposit that your state allows, just as everything is new and should be in excellent repair still I'll include a link too that may be of some use- in conjunction with current Zillow, Realtor.com, etc. listings in your area https://www.rentometer.com/Hope that helps some

Our accounting system is an Excel spreadsheet, and we'd like to purchase accounting software. 

Househacking is an excellent way to start, but if you don't have enough money for a down payment the best thing in my opinion is education and networking.

Saying that, getting licensed is pretty simple and like others have said, gives you more credibility and additional tools.