Quote from @Alex Spivey: I want to start renting as soon as I can so does anyone have adviceYou want to find a place to rent and occupy, or you want to buy an investment that you can rent to others?

One thing you might do is sell your more expensive properties and buy less expensive ones. 

Our lot is fenced in and we cannot see where he lives but close enough to be of concern, but we want to stay in the same town until the kids are finished school.So, my question is this, would it make sense to rent our home (roughly $2300-2500/mo. as per real-estate agent claims), with the stipulation that the garage is used for my business AND buy a home nearby?

We lend up to 75% of the ARV but most people are buying and rehabbing well below that from the investors I have been working with.

We ran out of time which caused us to buy a couple properties we probably shouldn't have at the bottom of our exchange list.The better ones were sold before we could buy them. 

Hey Somesh,I was wondering if you ended up buying a property in Cleveland and if so, how it’s going.I’m also from Toronto and looking to invest in Cleveland.  

I've worn three hats in the seller financing world (as a property buyer, as a property seller offering terms, and as an investor that buys seller financed note). 

Are the other properties you're buying in/around Macon? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------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?

The more information that you have out there the easier it is for people to find you, if you want them to find you.I almost everyday wear my "Rick Buys Houses" shirts with my phone number on it.