it will be tough to buy multi units with your current budget but not impossible. 

@Restyn Robbins self management out of state is nearly impossible at @Todd Rasmussen saidWhat about house hacking in your local area?

1-4 units: 2 months PITIA (for subject unit), 2% reserves (for all other units, primary residence excluded) 5-6 units: 6 months PITIA (for subject unit), 4% reserves (for all other units, primary residence excluded)7-10 units: 6 months PITIA (for subject unit), 6% reserves (for all other units, primary residence excluded), 720+ credit scoreAnd as noted by Chris many banks have internal policies to stop lending after 4 units so it becomes harder, but not impossible to find a lender.

However, it has been near impossible to contact anyone who can help us.

That being said, collecting fees from a tenant can be challenging (impossible), and the PM is not likely to agree to be out the funds until they can settle the security deposit.  

Hi, BP family. Quick question..We found a property being sold as is for 25k. However there’s a mold issue (not severe). Work needed is 8k.ARV is 63k. I believe I can leverage the fact that there’s mold to lower the as...

Not saying its impossible, I dont think anything is impossible.

What I mean by proxy presence is having that person that can do the activities you'd need to be there in person for (for example: show homes, meet contractors, inspect repair work, help in insurance claims situations, etc).This proxy presence that seems most crucial, also seems incredibly impossible to find!

To say the least these people were impossible and I was happy to see them go. 

I personally steer clear of 100 year old houses for rental for several reasons.  1) They are almost impossible to keep in compliance with the building code regulations. 2) If you make they really pretty you can get them rented pretty easily, but if they don't have insulations - and most of them don't - tenants will not be able to keep up with the utility bills and will move at the end of the first lease. 3) Lots of times houses that old are also in flood zones.