This will be the largest bond sale in US history coming up which on top of the debt we are also running as well - if we have so much debt to sell I do not see rates going down, I think they may rise (or stay around where they are at). 

In NY, NJ, CT, PA, MA the security deposit is regulated, as well as how much you can collect at lease signing. 

If you don’t have a certain amount of funds set aside for these situations as well as your portion of closing costs and some extra reserves for once you close then you’re likely not financially ready to be buying things.

There's a lot to this and illinois will not approve you without these things in place, as well as some others.Good luck.

It provides basically a tenant portal where you can upload copies of the lease, manage electronic payments, even do other things as well like maintenance requests.

This has been my strategy here in NOVA as well - though true multifamily housing stock is hard to come by as you are probably already aware.

Lake Murray is a great attraction to the area as well.

I ask if they are US citizens or green card holders, and I ask for past addresses for the past 5 years as well as any other names they used in the past (maiden name, nickname, etc).

if you were only going to rent out a portion of the house as an STR that portion would have to be worth more than your exchange as well.

It does make me feel more comfortable as I know the are well as a Real Estate Agent.