And then maybe after 3 months of generic letters, send him a personal letter and tell him that you've been sending out these marketing letters to people and just realized that his house was the one next door to yours.Ask him if he'd consider selling as it would make owning a rental that much easier being right next door like that.

If you are buying say a NNN STNL type property then funding and selection can be easier in the time frame left you have. 

Lastly, having a larger monthly cash flow, especially on your first property, will make it easier to build up a cushion in your rental account for unforseen large repairs or vacancy.I'l quickly touch on an angle I've used while acquiring rental properties, especially those in poor condition or those where the price is already reasonable for what it is.

However, recently I'm beginning to see more options and better choices.

You're so right - it get's easier after that first one!

I suspect selling now would be the best choice, given the market and lack of capital gains (under threshold).Not sure how to calculate this easily – I've tried using the BP rental property calculator, but my numbers are all off since we've already lived in the house 8 years.

It’s much easier to have self discipline if you have clear goals and meaningful purpose; we are filled with so many distractions in todays society, I encourage you to do whatever it takes to starve that distraction.

My preference is single family or multi-family homes in the northern NJ area, only because this is it will be easier to manage it all.  

I formatted this with multiple spaces so it was easier to read.

I think a lot of folks are understimating the value in the the low rates they are locked into, but if you do the math it makes the decision much easier.