I have been on the journey watching different trends in YouTube, Facebook groups and other couple of places, the free information on YouTube is chaos, but it will take time to figure out your area of interest and your strategy that fits current market, Facebook I really think is prone to all kinds of marketing tricks early learner will be pitched into commitments which may may not result in correct choice and success option for you.

If you did that you would want personal on all participants and it's still a bad choice IMHO. 

Seller can use title company of their choice.

Buy a property that is already multifamily and rent it out long term, we want to stay out high crime areas and that limits are choices to a few cities at least at our price point.

This will give you ideas to strategize your participation.

If you work the problem backwards like this, then you have no choice but to inevitably end up with a good deal and a lot less headaches!

My question is, being my first investment home, should I bother with hiring some kind of designer to help with the material choices/colors/styles/etc or keep with the contractor and work toward a plan and scope of work that way?

I am based in NH and have worked with businesses and investors across the country with no issue and be able to provide high levels of service - I am confident most of the CPAs putting themselves out there on BP could do the same.Locally - a REI group is fantastic, other members can certainly point you in the right direction for their service providers of choice.

You should also consider the value of comparable properties in the area and any other factors that could affect the property's value, such as zoning changes or economic conditions.When negotiating the purchase price, it's important to be strategic and to aim for a price that leaves room for a profit.

This can be very expensive and is usually the worst choice to make because you can't justify the cost.2.