The gulf coast is a great market and offers opportunities in all 3 areas.

What else should be doing in terms of tech, CRM, networking, social media and marketing to have max effects on mentee locating, market identification, tenant marketing And deal finding....

Purchased off market for 180k, EST rehab 40k, EST sale price 279k.

Yes, the deposit is refundable only if we can not deliver free and clear marketable title.

Hopefully someone from that market will chime in and make it easy for you!

So I took action, I know nothing, so I thought the fist step would be talking with an agent and get an idea of the market value, make numbers, and then look for options to finance the asset.

Note, Jacksonville FL is the largest market (area) in the nation and fairly nuanced.

My other option to house hack is Pittsburgh as I have family there but the property taxes are insane and it seems like the room rental market is very college oriented (I could be wrong.)I'd appreciate any feedback on Hagerstown and househacking. 

I've operated MTRs in several markets and have seen 75-80% occupancy on MTRs that can't be rented as STRs due to regulations (ie we don't rent them as a hybrid MTR / STR strategy).