Moving to Charlottesville, VA

[Dimitar Yankov]

So it is final. My wife was accepted to UVA, so we will be moving from NOVA/DC area to Charlottesville this summer for roughly 2 years. I am looking at rents for 1BD/2BD, and am thinking that I'd rather put a down payment on a property than spend $20k on rent over the next two years. As I am looking to build my portfolio of buy and holds, I think this may be a good plan. It'd be great to connect with any investors, wholesalers, RE agents and portfolio lenders in the area! 

Are the areas where I should stay away from? I notice that most properties will rent for below 1% of property value. Is this a correct observation? Any tips about the area would be greatly appreciated.