That’s a really smart idea and college towns can definitely be great for rentals since demand from students is usually steady year after year, but just keep in mind the trade-offs like higher turnover and extra wear-and-tear compared to traditional tenants.

Usually related to fire code and ingress/egress.

It usually takes more work then you expect so account for extra time and money to be spent.

More marketing, more listing sites, more rate adjustments, more listing wording adjustments, more lower dollar amenities added, removed high maintenance extras, changed internet providers, reduced TV package costs across Smokies properties saving over $1k a month, removed gas grills as they were a large maintenance (maintaining costs for propane and replacements/local bear kept destroying at 5 properties), changed cleaners, relooked all maintenance schedules, changed plumbers, changed hvac company, changed pool cleaners, made sure I never pay interest on business cards (pay off every Monday), changed minimum stays, changed some deposit policies and I am sure there is alot more squeezing I just forgot as I started running a DOGE on my ops before DOGE existed starting last December.

Congrats on getting so close to moving in your first tenant that’s such an exciting milestone You’re right Maryland law doesn’t require you to put up window coverings but from experience it’s usually worth doing Tenants almost always want that extra bit of privacy and if you don’t provide it they’ll often put something up themselves which can mean nails tape or other things that end up damaging your walls or trim A simple clean set of blinds in the living room will still let in all that great light when they’re open and it saves you potential hassle later

An LLC mainly protects your assets—it doesn’t give you extra tax benefits.

Helps with your debt to income, better opportunities at cash flow, and typically requires less down to purchase.In regards to challenges, I usually build in an extra 10-15% to deal with things that I can't see behind the walls, including dry rot, electrical or plumbing issues, etc.

I usually recommend starting with the bank you already have a relationship with, since they’ll already have most of your information.

I usually say: here is the house and this is my asking price.

Do you usually get referrals through agents/contractors, or do you prefer to find PMs independently?