I occasionally get Springfield leads.

My interests are single family and multi family rentals and I’m considering flipping occasionally for that shot of cash when needed.

I will acknowledge that it is harder right now with bloated valuations in most real estate assets but as long as you stick with first principles and buy when the buying is good, you can make it work.Also, I keep reading over and over from people with zero experience in CA real estate that CA is horrible to landlords.

Occasionally you will need a new bathroom and/or kitchen so you will need to be setting some aside for that.You mentioned good HOA management.

Apart from your suggestion, I'm not sure there is any good way around that until I have a solid contact in most of the regions.I should also add that while there is occasionally a delicate balance that has to happen to avoid a conflict of interest, I prefer the listing broker/agent because they have the most information and are only 1 step removed from the seller.

. #3 to grow with a young engineering firm that has plenty of opportunity for growth and allows me to bring in my own engineering work through the real estate network that I've developed (flippers, developers, etc all need engineering services occasionally).I'm a big fan of having that W2 income that will help you qualify for loans, etc. but make sure that you don't lose focus of your long term goals, especially as you move forward in engineering.

Occasionally I drive by a property and, because it looks like it has some deferred maintenance, I'll consider selling the owner a letter expressing interest to purchase.  

But I am self managing a few rentals in Hawaii, so I still get the occasional call from tenants for small repairs.

I have a few folks who occasionally send me leads on run-down houses in my mid-sized market. 

I'd really prefer to be able to ask and answer questions or send referrals privately without having to necessarily be connected to that person as a colleague.Case in point: occasionally I receive colleague requests with no message attached to it.