I'm financing it as a second home (since I'll occupy some of the time and rent out when I'm not there), through a conventional mortgage.

Buy me a taco next time I'm in town 

If you're looking for appreciation you can buy properties one at a time in cash and then re-finance the cash out and buy another. 

Over the years, I've built strong systems to keep projects on time and within budget.

This is a bizarre time and could possibly be this way for a long time.

In a “nutshell”What can work - partnerships where each person brings a different necessary asset (knowledge, experience, time, capital, credit) to the table, the responsibilities, rewards, and expectations are clearly spelled out, legal documents are created to head off disagreements, and the parties are compatible.What doesn’t work - partnerships formed by two or more inexperienced people looking for “comfort” rather than going it alone, and anything other than the above. 

I researched all these different corporate structures very in depth when i was starting and now that I look back, I wasted a lot of time trying to "protect" myself from the 1 in a million things instead of just focusing on the main goal of acquiring and operating RE assets.

This takes TIME.

Hi Nicholas, my advice for you is to start with one property at a time, especially if you're investing out of state.

In this part of the market cycle, newer vintage assets, median incomes of at least 50k, washer dryer hook ups, more two beds than ones, townhome style assets.When the broker showed us the deal we didn't have to waste time analyzing it.