It's growing rapidly and price of labor/ housing is dirt cheap.

What the city housing clerk is telling me is that there was a water leak from behind the sink pedestal on the second floor bathroom that has been running for a week. 

Great points, ZharaBirmingham has relatively steady and diverse rental demand, and I’ve seen many investors I work with have success with C/B class buy-and-holds.Location is key—areas near UAB, major employers, and popular suburbs tend to have the strongest rental demand, while C/D class markets offer solid affordable housing and Section 8 opportunities.

Usually in the year following your purchase, the property appraiser will reevaluate the house based on the new sales price.  

The houses are just a commodity. 

I believe your loan could get called if you transfer ownership to an LLC without consent of the lender, especially a brand new LLC that does not have two years of tax returns.

If you’re just starting or want to minimize risk, house hacking is a killer move—grab a duplex, live in one unit, rent the other, and let it pay down your mortgage while you scale up.

We were trying to buy a loan that was in default and the current lender was emotionally attached and has it listed for over $2M when comps are $1.5M. 

You can still buy houses in small farm towns in MN for $25k.

Or put in your interest rate here, and your loan balance there.The art is where I think most people struggle, and I don't think this can really be done without real world knowledge.