.#4 good call.Immerse yourself in real estate knowledge...books, podcasts, forums, blogs...and analyze many deals. 

The hierarchy from "most transactions per year" to least transactions per year is: escrow (lawyer if you're in a lawyer state), appraiser, lender, real estate agent.

This guy has a blue collar job, on paper borderline, but the way he aced the security deposit issue convinced me that this is one of the indicators of a good tenant.That's why tenants who couldn't even come up with the month is in my book, certain sign of trouble.

I just booked an appointment with Paul to discuss further.

@Jon RolandHave you looked into Brandon T's book on investing investing with no and low money down?

Also just for the record owning/financing a solar system is superior to leasing in my book partly because returns are better and for other reasons as well, but in the case of investment property when the owner can’t claim the tax credit, then in that case leasing is currently the best option for going solar.

I’ve done what I consider required reading and I keep all these books around personally indexed as references.

We'll also be moving cross country do to jobs in about a year so we're saving for that and to invest in the new area, not fans of out of state investors for newbie REIs.Some thoughts on what you could do, and what I wish I would have done right away when we go to our current location.1- House hack2 - do a flip3 - optimize your budget and savings, invest in yourself through books and BP.

I recommend a pitch book with your business plan, criteria, track record, management companies, attorney, brokers, (and a hypothetical deal is a judgment call).

LOTS of people get down payment gifts from family, and LOTS of lenders & borrowers prefer that gift funds go directly to escrow to keep the paperwork a little lighter (one less round of "source this deposit" and bank statements and transaction histories).