Here are a few things that I like about the neighborhoods in Indy compared to other states: high rent-to-home-value ratio, consistent and gradual city development, relatively low property tax and insurance cost, affordable renovation service cost.From my experience, it's possible to find deals that meet 1% rule if you invest in *turn-key* duplex or SFH here, but they are harder to find, and could potentially slow down you from scaling up.

CA has it's upsides and both states have insurance issues.

@Kathie Mata   appliance insurance may work in some places, in my area is quite slow to show up.   

What is on the insurance application that you signed? 

Home prices are one, cost of living and relatively disaster-free weather keeps insurance costs down.You can look up the median home price for every city or metro area.

Maybe it is more difficult if the damage was more serious like fire or flood but it goes same with any insurance claim.

It's a balance of cashflow and wealth accumulation.One of the goals is to have tenants pay as much of your cost-of-ownership as possible (loans, taxes, insurance, etc.)In high-cost areas, any Class A or B property you buy will usually negative cashflow for the first 3-5 years, until rents rise enough to cover the negative cashflow + rising taxes & insurance.Investing OOS increases your risks because you may not know the market and you can't check on everything/everyone all the time.If you move forward with your buddies, HIGHLY recommend creating a solid Partnership Agreement!

Same answer whether you borrowed against your residence or against your rental A or against your life insurance or from your family or from any other source. 

Do they have insurance and property tax reduction reports in their study?

That is just the loan payment and doesn't include your insurance and taxes like a typical mortgage payment does.