Some types of Creative Financing include: Seller/Owner Financing, Land Contract, Wrap, Assumption, Subto, Lease Option, Contract for Deed.

You can find something in Durham and parts of Raleigh, specifically zips 27610, 27603, and parts of 27604 that would meet your criteria, however generally speaking most of the inventory that would fit what you are looking for in Raleigh or Durham would likely be in neighborhoods that I personally wouldn't want to invest in, C- to D type neighborhoods.

I would spend time building your list of WHO (agent, mentor, contractor/handyman), then WHAT (house type, tenant base, work needed), then WHERE (location).

I think partially because a lot of folks don’t even check it.If you’re interested in getting more off market deals I would suggest starting relationships with brokers that sell the types of properties you’re interested in.

Spending on expensive upgrades is not the answer to improve your tenant base in this type of area.Keep the homes habitable, clean, and safe. 

Quote from @Zach Howard: Quote from @V.G Jason: Quote from @Zach Howard: @V.G JasonTo someone just starting out (only option of OOS) who can get access to 200k, but no additional financing at this time but an additional 50-100k max in reserve cash, where might you recommend they start - markets/property type/strategy?

@Chris Seveney What is their name, and what types of owners/realtors have they called for you?

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Overall, for every type of property....I would say that keeping up with proper maintenance is what most people neglect.

There are two types of return from a rental propertyCash Flow & Appreciation.I normally also aim for a minimum of 8% return between Cash-Flow and Appreciation.Appreication, nationally, is around 2% to 3% annually.Therefore, your goal is to get the cash-flow to be about 5% to 6%.The issue is interest rates being very high, you would therefore, need to buy at a pricepoint where the numbers still make sense.You can always put down more of a downpayment to cash flow, but that will impact your cash on cash return calculations.Best of luck!