A good way into it may be doing a house hack or live and flip then pulling the equity out in a refinance.Tons of ways to make money in this game!

I live in Fl. where insurance is pretty costly but I am also investing in states where insurance seems less expensive.

I'd buy where you live (within an hour or so) for your 1st investment!

Hey DenisI have commented a lot about arbitrage in a general sense here, however I believe I am uniquely qualified to answer here as I live and operate about 65 units in this specific market.In 2016 I got my STR start arbitraging a Gulf Front mansion that was in foreclosure and I got a great deal on. 

You do not have to live in the home in order to do that!

I never actually went live on the site because of the 15% fee they wanted.

Video is very important, shoot walk through video and have that.

It will be remote, but since you live there now, you probably already have connections who either already know the house or local friends to find you good people to service things as needed.  

If that were the case, I would sell my house and live in a tent because it's less expensive. 

It has ample basement living space, that the tenant uses as a third bedroom.