The best experience and the best use of your time is to begin speaking with property owners.Will you fall flat on your face at times?

You may be eligible to write off the expenses such as tools/trucks without it.You want to speak with an attorney but you may not be getting liability protection for repairs/renovations done to your own properties if the work is done bad.Speak with an attorney to discuss any liability protection that you may receive by having the LLC.

I am fairly handy, but I want to buy in a good neighbourhood that will appreciate well and attract quality tenants.I am assuming it would be very beneficial to speak with a local mortgage broker and real estate agent that specializes in real estate investing, but don't know any. 

If anything else I’ve said spurs further conversation, don’t be afraid to speak up!

If still in town on the 13th, come out to MAREI (see the calendar here for zip code 66214) and TALK with local lenders, realtors, investors, property managers and get their feel - there are things that people can share when speaking with you that they really can't post in words on the internet.

Some are coming with jobs already secured and others are coming simply because Austin has tons of jobs. 22 companies just this year announced they are moving their HQ here and every day I speak with people who work for major names that have large software departments here, even if they aren't headquartered here.

If you are concerned about the quality of the inspection you’ll get in working through your realtor I’d suggest asking to talk to a past client that has used that inspector and speaking with them about the experience.

This additional 220K you speak of,  is due to the PMs efforts of placing the tenants and whatever savings you have from expenses/renewable capex.

You might be speaking too soon

It would still be a good idea to speak with an attorney and go over your plan to make sure you do it in an efficient and legal manner.You definitely cannot play catch up on the previous years that rent wasn’t raised.