Local grants and first-time homebuyer programs can help minimize upfront costs.

Thanks  100% go sec 8 or other govt program.

I believe though Douglas County is no longer "rural" enough for USDA programs.

A local lender has a first-time homebuyer program that offers 0% down with no PMI and $2k towards closing costs with a very competitive rate (6.025% as of 8/19/24).

You want to break down your preference in regard to sale price, down payment, program, (SFR/MFH), seasoning is important, and the two R's you want to pay most attention to is the Renovate and Refinance.Most investors make the mistake on the renovate or refinance and sometimes both.You also have to figure out if your buying as a Primary or investment because if you buy as a primary you always refinance before you rent. 

@Gino Barbaro has an excellent education and coaching program.

This article from Realtor.com in 2016 points out eight of the largest differences: https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/red-vs-blue-states-polit...Regardless of political affiliation, the simple truth is that more government involvement almost always results in more problems for ordinary people.

I actually ended up working with a DFY arbitrage program that finds the right property, negotiates the least terms with the landlord, and even has an interior design department to set up your listing.

@Amby BhagtaniAnalyzing a market Sperling’s Best Placeshttp://www.bestplaces.net/School Diggerhttps://www.schooldigger.com/State & Localhttps://www.statelocalgov.net/GeoMetrxhttps://geometrx.com/Social Explorerhttps://www.socialexplorer.com/Justice Maphttps://justicemap.org/Google Earth / Google Maps / Street ViewFree Map Tools – Elevation Finderhttps://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htmCensushttps://www.census.gov/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.htmlhttps://data.census.gov/https://censusreporter.org/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221City-datahttp://www.city-data.com/Socialexplorerhttp://www.socialexplorer.com/Costarhttp://www.costar.com/Colliershttp://www.colliers.com/en-us/usDepartment of Numbershttps://www.deptofnumbers.com/Data USAhttps://datausa.io/Bureau of Economic Analysishttps://www.bea.gov/https://www.bea.gov/itable/Bureau of Labor Statisticshttps://www.bls.gov/St Louis Fedhttps://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/Zumperhttps://www.zumper.com/NMHChttps://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/quick-facts-figures/Apartment Listhttps://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimatesStats Americahttps://www.statsamerica.org/town/Reventurehttps://map.reventure.app/dashboardSafety/Crime StatisticsSpotcrimehttps://spotcrime.com/ Family Watch Doghttp://www.familywatchdog.us/Neighborhood Scouthttps://www.neighborhoodscout.com/City Protecthttps://cityprotect.com/ Crime Mappinghttps://www.crimemapping.com/ Walkability Walk Scorehttps://www.walkscore.com/Checking RentsRentometerhttps://www.rentometer.com/Apartsments.comhttp://www.apartments.com/Apartment Guidehttp://www.apartmentguide.com/Craigslisthttps://www.craigslist.org/about/sitesZillowhttps://www.zillow.com/

I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan I am an agent an did their find an agent program too.