Before pulling the trigger on a Condo, I would suggest looking hard at common charges and how stable they are (have they been going up outside of inflation?)

When lenders are looking at your history, they check the past two years of income for how stable of a lendee you are.

I have a stable job with a good income as well, but paying $4500 a month for me is really expensive though.

We spent more of the time focusing on checking the garage to see if there is electricity, how we can potentially put the shelfs and stuff like that. - Are the particular things that we should be looking for as an investor (rather than just rely on the "feeling")?

They usually have jobs in addition to school so have no time for foolishness, often are stable with a boy/girlfriend or spouse, and generally keep the place nice and pay on time because they are actual adults, not just legal adults. 

or may be gold, or stocks for a while until the economy is safe and stable?

. + my W2 employment which I believe is pretty stable.

The roommate and girlfriend are responsible/stable and have been paying current rent and actually fixing up the house. 

I'm curious to know how likely I am to find such an opportunity and where the best chances to find it might be in the current market environment:- Cash flow: $400-$600 / month- ROI: recover down-payment in 5 years with cash-on-cash return of 14-20%- Cap Rate: 8-12%- Market: High rental demand, stable employment, projected growth area.- Customer: Mid-class, stable job, family-oriented, income between $40k-55k / year, 20+ working years remaining- Taxes: local and city taxes should not be exorbitant- Location: Landlord-friendly states only.

I feel pretty confident that the market here in Charlotte will be pretty stable and continue to grow.