For SFR homes for PM expect 10% rate and half months rent to fill a vacany. 

I've placed a half dozen house hackers so far, and they are all absolutely killing it. 

I subscribe to the Best Buy Deal of the Day emails, and they do have a lot of half price items, good for only that day.

But I have also regained full time employment a year and a half ago (not something I was actively looking for!

These are the "easiest" deals to find, as buying for wholesalers or fix and flippers at those discounts off MLS in my market is a full time job in itself.

After you’ve done a few deals of that type of strategy you can move on.I think house hacking is a great way to get your feet wet in rental investing, especially if you can find a duplex or so and live in one half and rent out the other half.

So obviously the down payment is probably the easiest part.

It also sounds like you have a good nose for sniffing-out guru BS 💩As you are aware, the real estate industry is full of gurus that oversell and under-deliver on expensive, half-***, 'push-button' software that's used to up-sell you on their 'mentorship programs' for thousands of dollars. 

@Albert Jimenez I don't think it's the easiest niche to deal with but I would disagree with the investor that says it's a waste of money.

There's half a dozen or so heaters so as long as a couple near water sources are turned on, it should be fine.