Antonia - You don't want to over extend yourself or get in over your head.

The 6/3 rents to a large extended family that has few other rental options.

I know that house will need some work after she moves out, especially because she was smoking in master bedroom at one point (stopped after I found out), so I might have to spend money to get the smell out among other things.

You need to learn how to conduct your own title search.Look forward to spending much quality time at the recorder's office.

Unusual vacancies, extended maintenance etc?

I spend a good amount of time online looking for deals.

In a hot market, you get that many more people interested in your property which can drive up the price.I would say the level of staging and amount you want to spend on it depends on the price range you are in.

If you do that you may end up spending more of your time doing lawyer activities and less doing real estate investing which could be counter productive depending on your goals...

His loan on the house obv wasn't large, so I was afraid he would wind up spending thousands on contractors to try and get things done in a few weeks when he could take his time a little with fewer contractors and just pay out a few hundred in mortgage payments and save himself some money, i.e. make himself some money.

The places I am looking at are anywhere from 250-450k (ideally looking to spend 280-350k).