Agree with Sam's points, but also communities with easy access to I40 on the North East side of Memphis could benefit as well.

Ive seen this done on my block and in other areas.Any thoughts on this would be great!

However, because I plan to retire and live off passive income within the next 5 years (age 33), I don't like the idea of money sitting in retirement accounts gaining returns that are inferior to what I could get if invested in buy and hold real estate while not being accessible until ~ age 60.

Basement - poured or block?

I also know with hard money you can usually use a LOC/HELOC for a down payment and closing costs if you have the access to one. 

Yeah, its in the property and not liquid, but I can access it via lines of credit and refinancing.

I have access to easily over $100K in liquid capital not including anywhere from $60-70k in unrealized equity should I sell my co-op(which is the intention.)

This was 2 blocks from the largest hospital in the State and 6 blocks from the largest University in the State.

Though I don't anticipate needing keys and won't experience any damages ahead of this date, I'm uncomfortable with owning an asset that I cannot access in the event of emergency.

We're taking over management of a new build in progress and the builder is very high on both of these for cost savings/ease of access.