I was able to relate every potential house back to time I spent over those 10 days.One of the neighborhoods I thought I was going to love turned out to be a major dud..so happy I tried the area out.I had my realtor go see the houses and FaceTime me when performing the walk through.I picked a house and came back out to AZ during the inspection period to make sure I was good with the house.It's a big investment...my advice is spend $4-5K on travel, have fun while your looking at houses, and then make sure you are 100% happy with the home during your due diligence period.  

Your sphere doesn't know ANY older people or have relatives that own homes?

You can find real estate investors groups, real estate agents, and other things related to real estate.

I prefer to invest in properties that I can physically get to relatively easily, but since you know the area well, and if you feel like you have a team there locally that can help you I don't see anything wrong with investing there.My 2 concerns are that this area might actually be a C- neighborhood because I like to over estimate my property grades, and that the $200 a month cashflow won't cover your expenses.

This includes knowledge of tenant relations, maintenance coordination, legal compliance, and financial management.

One of our leasing agents heard heard another apartment was up for sale because her relative worked there. 

This mainly related to quick response times, following up with applicants, and flexibility around touring.

Rents in our area are relatively low, inventory is sitting on the market for about 2 months (both for rent and for sale), and even after adjusting purchase price, down payment percentages, and other variables, it's still very tough to make the numbers work and we understand the market cool down conditions right now.

Tenant Default: 0-5% probability of eviction or early lease termination.Section 8: Class A rents are too high and won’t be approved.Vacancies: 5-10%, depending on market conditions.Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Class B Properties:Tenant Pool: Majority of FICO scores 620-680, some blemishes, no convictions/evictions in last 5 years.Tenant Default: 5-10% probability of eviction or early lease termination.Vacancies: 10-15%, depending on market conditions.Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 1-3 years for positive cashflow, balanced amounts of relative rent & value appreciation.Section 8: Class B rents are usually too high for the Section 8 program.Class C Properties:Tenant Pool: Majority of FICO scores 560-620, many blemishes, but should have no convictions/evictions in last 3 years.

Tenant Default: 0-5% probability of eviction or early lease termination.Section 8: Class A rents are too high and won’t be approved.Vacancies: 5-10%, depending on market conditions.Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Class B Properties:Tenant Pool: Majority of FICO scores 620-680, some blemishes, no convictions/evictions in last 5 years.Tenant Default: 5-10% probability of eviction or early lease termination.Vacancies: 10-15%, depending on market conditions.Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 1-3 years for positive cashflow, balanced amounts of relative rent & value appreciation.Section 8: Class B rents are usually too high for the Section 8 program.Class C Properties:Tenant Pool: Majority of FICO scores 560-620, many blemishes, but should have no convictions/evictions in last 3 years.