I would like to converse with the owner on cost, process, hassle, lessons learned, etc but only the agent is at the open house.  

I'm in St louis, but the house is just across the river in Illinois.I've spoken directly to a few brokers.

Just a few thoughts...If the house is spacious enough where there is no need for extra private space, I'd say keep the garage.

I'd be looking for meetup groups of investors and start handing out business cards that say you are an investor looking for private deals to contribute to. sometimes its just 3-5 investors on a small house/STR

https://www.har.com/content/department/newsroom?pid=2088Houston Real Estate Highlights in May, 2024: Property sales are down but home prices continue to go up!
-Single-family home sales declined 1.5 percent year-over...

There are a couple of FB groups with thousands of members for this market, with wholesalers posting houses all day long. 

Hi Chris -  My company specializes in helping homeowners navigate state housing regulations.If your life circumstances change and you move out before 3 yrs is up, you will not be penalized.

For example, a “base hit” single family house I bought off the MLS 6 years ago cost me 100k.

Hello Everyone,I really want to learn how to rent my house and aquire another house to rent and so on.

He was upside down, house become unlivable and he moved out.