Any stories, advice, or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated right now while I'm trying to hold it together.Thanks!

Separately, I strongly encourage you to maintain significant capital reserves throughout your journey. 

That said, I've sort of done a 180 on my attitude towards out of state investment in our city - we could use it - steering people in the right direction and hopefully encouraging them to do the right thing is key.

The thing I would encourage you to think about is that even if you do start with fix and flips...you still need a place to live.  

Not many investors will encourage you cash-flow negative and pray for appreciation to save you in 20 years.

The paper savings on "cashflow" properties evaporate in reality.BTW, two of my properties are in Augusta, feel free to PM me if you want to chat about the market.

.- i'd encourage you to consider doing as big a deal you comfortably can with the amount of capital you have, vs trying to start off unnecessarily small. make sure you account for a personal reserve, a reserve for the future property, and closing costs, THEN see what's left over for a down payment. also note that while there are creative ways to buy tons of RE with little $, they demand A LOT of time and energy, which it sounds like you guys may not be looking to invest right now. - driving distance vs long distance: try to map out exactly what situations this would benefit you in. could either of you guys logistically drop everything to drive multiple hours away?

Looking to do long term rental as well.I would strongly encourage you to talk to locals in both state (not necessarily licensed Real Estate professionals but someone who lives there locally or invested into these states.

In Jackson Mississippi  South Jackson to be specific I have funded well over 500  props there and more than 10 I have funded 2 to 3 times over the last 20 years although I am not longer doing deals in South Jackson as I don't want to encourage out of state investors into those super high risk areas.

@Robert JohnsonI would strongly encourage you to make sure you actually want to own and operate an STR... which puts you in the hospitality business.I only own LTR but I follow a lot of STR operators, including people in my network, and it has gotten much tougher both to buy and to operate.