I'm not lucky enough to have a dual income situation so I've prepared for a looong time before taking this plunge.

In your situation, you can of course "use" an agent to gather market information but bear in mind that that information might be biased so you need to do your own analysis and corroborate the info.

 16 terms you need to know in commercial real estate:1.Internal Rate of Return (IRR): A metric used to estimate the annualized return on an investment based on the timing and magnitude of cash flows.2.Cash-on-Cash Return: The annual income generated by a property expressed as a percentage of the initial cash investment.3.Discount Rate: The rate used to discount future cash flows to their present value in financial models; often represents the required rate of return.4.Capital Expenditures (CapEx): The funds set aside for property improvements, renovations, or major repairs.5.Gross Operating Income (GOI): The total income generated by a property before subtracting operating expenses.6.Operating Expenses: The costs associated with managing and maintaining a property, including utilities, taxes, insurance, and maintenance.7.Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): A measure of a property’s ability to cover its debt payments, typically calculated as NOI divided by debt service.8.Loan-to-Value (LTV) Ratio: The ratio of the loan amount to the property’s appraised value, used to assess risk in financing.9.Equity Multiple: A measure of the total return on an investment, calculated as the ratio of total cash flows to initial equity investment.10.Residual Land Value: The estimated value of land after deducting development costs and desired profit margins.11.Sensitivity Analysis: A technique used to assess how changes in key variables (e.g., rent, expenses, interest rates) affect financial model outcomes.12.Operating Pro Forma: A projection of a property’s income and expenses over a specified period, typically used for budgeting and financial analysis.13.Cash Flow Waterfall: A structured distribution of cash flows to different stakeholders in a real estate project, often involving equity investors, lenders, and developers.14.Leverage: The use of borrowed funds (e.g., a mortgage) to finance a real estate investment, potentially amplifying returns but also increasing risk.15.Equity Investment: The amount of money invested by equity partners or investors in a real estate project. 16.

If you focus on just connecting people through the internet, you'll most likely get jv deals where the prices been marked up multiple times. 

I been looking into either property abroad, homesteading/self sustainable home for myself, building a community living with a self sustainability situation with others, buying property abroad with a group of people I decide I trust enough to do so with (my inspiration for this last one: https://tynan.com/empire/), just go back to my original idea to house hack first, or a combination of the above.

Check my profile for my multiple forum post review

Point being there are multiple strategies, so you just need to talk through them a bit and I'd be happy to assist any way I can.The other consideration would be how rates are anticipated to drop still moving forward.

If you come across this situation make sure to talk to local attorney so that you understand your responsibilities in your location.

I'm in a situation right now where I'm selling my personal home and it's been... interesting to say the least which has been eating at my confidence towards residentials in general.

Ten years, multiple tenants and pets and it looks brand new.