I appreciate your perspectives/guidance; very helpful.Fyi, the thing I’ve always found puzzling is how some markets can have rent that is so expensive in relation to a monthly mortgage payment.  

Having reserves is also a huge piece of the puzzle that isn’t talked about often.

It seems like PM is such an important piece of the puzzle.

First piece of my puzzle is the legal counsel.

A quality agent can make the transactions mesh together much easier and it will be a better sign for the Seller and Listing Agent on whatever home you want to buy.The bigger piece of the puzzle is making sure that financing is not an issue and that you can qualify for both payments and that your DTI's are in range.

Seriously, this is the most important piece of the puzzle.

In our view it is one piece of the puzzle.

Hello @Hayden W Gibson,To keep it simple, whether you invest now or wait a bit, having the cash down payment is only one piece of the puzzle.

Seems like a good property manager is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when picking a market.

The first part of the puzzle would be to have robust General Liability coverage attached to your rental property insurance with a high limit ($1M).