My wife is at home but the kids are now in school so the plan is for her to manage whatever properties we purchase. 

Fun fact: A formerly incarcerated person might not meet your criteria as landlord to rent a unit to them in the lower income area of your town, so instead they purchase the home (since we don't do background checks) right next door to you and are your neighbor in the nicer part of town, watching your kids play in the yard, etc... whoops, might not have considered that one.

Is there anything in an area that you look for before exploring an area.

Beautiful wife & 3 little kids..

I’m an interior designer so one of my strengths is renovating properties that are eyesores without breaking the budget.I signed up for Bigger Pockets because I want to accelerate the rate that I invest and explore flipping properties. 

My kids will be living there while attending UMO, with the first one starting this fall.

I would think negatives are turnover, dealing w parents, kids trashing the house. 

Not sure if that will be my next landing, still exploring. 

I put all kids on one lease and tell that they're all responsible for the full amount.

Your business entities should be owned by each other, not any human person and any income property or short-term holdings (flips) you acquire should be held in the business entity(-ies), not your own name.There are resources available on the web to explore at your convenience.There is one aspect that should be mentioned: mindset.Those who oppose business entities will remark about what it costs to establish and maintain them.