@Lillian Pintaro,Birmingham’s a lucrative market—it’s been my stomping ground for nearly 20 years, and you can find some excellent deals if you know what you’re after and dive deep by zip code, neighborhood, and city block.For what it’s worth, we manage 2,000+ units (many for out-of-state investors) mostly in the north and west part of town—so think suburbs outside the city limits like Graysville (35073), Adamsville (35005), Mount Olive (35117), Center Point (35215), and the like.Since you’re also open to the surrounding areas, places like Odenville (to the east) and Tuscaloosa (to the southwest) could be worth checking out.

Conventional financing is a great option to get started if you have a W2 job or easily verifiable income and you're financing a 1-4 unit property.

We are looking to get into small multifamily (12-20 units ) once the sell is final (speaking it into existence!

.: @Karen MargraveGood to see you back here.When I was a midshipman a thousand years ago, we had accommodations similar to this, though our "micro-units house 2 or 3 cadets.  

Even if it's a new build, with 4 units, you're going to have lots of repairs.

And I dont have to manage 100 units making me $100/month each. 

Gutted and renovated the entire unit What was the outcome?

If you're planning on living in the unit during the winter and renting it out over the summer, you could have the best of both worlds.

my hope is to get a nice unit for my son at below 50% of retail.  

For example, should we focus on acquiring one high-quality property in a strong market, or would it make more sense to spread the investment across multiple lower-cost units in emerging areas?