Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

If you have considerable equity in the property or multiple properties it's even more important.

It sounds like the 2 BR floor plan makes this process even more difficult.

If the new administration actually enacts their policy stances on tariffs, immigration, trying to ignite the economy even more....all of those things add up to higher inflation.

Even though you have a VA loan, you still WANT good credit.  

Even finding 1 is tough in todays market, let alone 3!

So - somewhere 2 hours away, or somewhere you like to vacation in, or where all your family lives, or where you plan to move someday.Too many people are trying to do exactly what you're doing - pick a market based on a formula - and they end up buying a random 'cheap' property thousands of miles away, turn it over to people they've never met or even spoken to, and then... lose money.  

Realistically you would expect the house to continue to appreciate during that time as well... even if at 3.33% appreciation - that is another $50,000 in appreciation you would make in the 3 years - give or take.  

It is quite rural and it is much easier to get a permit for these sorts of things if you even need one.

gotta echo the sentiment for spending some time on the ground even if a small amount on the front end.