Do a drive by occasionally to make sure the outside looks good.

Occasionally I get asked where I am looking to purchase.  

Upgrade occasionally to justify needing to do that every so often to justify your rent payments. 

Monthly payment including HOA is around $1550.Flash forward to 2018 and we are very grateful to have discovered biggerpockets and have really jumped into learning about real estate investing and all the possible strategies available to us. 

Teachers, nurses and grad students often refer other qualified friends in the same fields to become new tenants.If everything is running according to plan (an you are keeping your contingency/replacement funds growing to deal with the occasional emergency) I'd suggest you think long and hard before selling or trading this known entity for the next unknown one.Good luck.

BP's podcast has the occasional guest on that syndicates as well. 

I am looking to get into house flipping as a starting off point with a long term goal of having multiple rentals and doing an occasional flip.

I also feel inherently more comfortable investing in areas where I have family / friends who can occasionally visit the property for checkups.

Hi Pete,Personally, I occasionally use FB on the rentals I own (not manage) if their is a "for rent" page local to the area. 

I have one tenant that mows her own, but I often have to remind her that the grass is looking pretty bad, and she doesn’t use a trimmer so I occasionally have to go do that part myself or spray Roundup.