I generally recommend if you're not going to buy a property in the city/market where you currently live, the next best place to look is where you have family (and presumably a place that you'll visit relatively often and easily).What is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper", assuming you buy in Peoria or a similar priced Midwest market?

We usually have 2-5 properties a year that we buy or sale.  

I want to go the buy-and-hold route, and I am interested in finding a duplex that will provide a steady cash flow, a high appreciation value and does not need renovations.

😊In other cases the ambiguity made it almost impossible to buy and insure. 

Have you ever read Amazon.com reviews and wondered how anyone ever decides which product to buy?

I can explain why, because I buy Subject To.

Below is some copy & paste info about our methodology:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Our goal would be to buy something in the next 2-3 years. 

The first is that there's no consensus between tax professionals, and the second is that you will not like my personal interpretation.My interpretation is:Until the property is "placed in service" - everything goes into basis.Illustration.You buy a property July 1st.You finish rehab November 1st and put the property on the market.Your tenant moves in January 15th.The property was placed in service November 1st, and it does not matter that the tenant did not move in until the next year.Everything paid between July 1st and November 1st, including interest and utilities, goes into basis.

We can buy the house for maybe 125k and he estimates 120k in renovations.