Buy property that has the opportunity for sweat equity.  

But definitely tougher, and you're probably going to be buying a light sweat equity deal.

Sweat equity.  

And that's fine - don't sweat it now.

Hi Nokukhanya,It's not about an area you would like to live in, it's about an area you are willing to invest (blood, sweat, tears... and money) in.As far as off market searching goes, there is always opportunity it just depends on how much.

@bo @Bo Smith thanks for the support believe its been blood, sweat, and tears.

There is another side of the coin you can play but it takes sweat equity. 

I'd rather own 5 rock-solid properties than 10 where I'm sweating every payment and counting on appreciation.

You can purchase a building for below market value that needs work, put in some sweat equity and force the value of the building.

I have a $10k renovation budget set aside for immediate value-add, and $10k in reserves and I plan to handle the majority of the cosmetic work myself to stabilize the property and build sweat equity.