Military Investor in Pensacola

[Ryan Heinz]

Hello all!

This is my first post to bigger pockets as I am a new real estate investor. I am in the Marine Corps and will be stationed in Pensacola, FL to begin flight school and my real estate investing career. 

I have been doing plenty of reading and research in the area. Since I have a couple months until I can start the real search for a property, I am using my time practicing analyzing properties as well as learning as much as I can about the area. In analyzing properties to determine if they will cash flow or not, I feel though that the margin is always razor thin ($20-30). I was wondering if I anyone could offer some advice. Maybe I using bad numbers in my calculations, or am I in need of some better deal finding skills. 

I am looking at 3BR 2Bath places priced around $100,000-120,000. I have found that the average rent is usually just around $1000 for a 3 bedroom house, barely passing at time the 1% test. Any investors in the area run into the same issue?

Thank you for your time! Excited to begin this journey.