It's just a smarter move for a bunch of reasons....there is ZERO affordable housing in your market..similar to metro Atlanta....and you can get some great renters who come from a variety of situations and backgrounds.  

I am interested in the Bigger Pockets community to learn more about opportunities and the variety of ways to finance deals.  

Very informative and discuss a wide variety of strategies.

There are a variety of neighborhoods.  

A web search should reveal most of them.

Marc, might take a look at your post today and about things changing before suggesting things about options and we don't really teach guru aspects on BP, "Minimum Deal Standards" each deal is unique, we're on a national stage including all  kinds of markets where deals can be based on a variety of issues, goals and strategies.

I would think using a savings account or using a variety of cd's and rotating them over.  

There are a variety of ways to build in poor soils, structural slabs, deep foundation (e.g., caisson/piers), etc..  

But hey, it's just nomenclature so I wouldn't get caught up in the semantics.As far as the 70% rule goes, it is very much just a quick rule of thumb for a down and dirty analysis and varies by a variety of things, not the least of which is the value of property.Regardless of what the project entails, it's prudent to run actual numbers to evaluate the opportunity and see that it meets your criteria. 

Naturally discuss it with your local fire department first (they may nix the idea for a variety of reasons) and if you get the okay from them (and they can help guide you through the process), contact your CPA and attorney to find out what you need to do before proceeding with the process to be sure your ducks are in a row.Good luck and remember to bring really, really long skewers for the marshmallows!