I've considered going Dave Ramsey and buying a house with cash and upping my budget to $100k in a smaller market, but that would blow almost all my savings, and $100k just doesn't get you much anymore.

What type of properties are you looking to buy?

Once that happens, the tenant is buying the property for you. 

Ensure you are buying in an area you want and can see your family living in.

•Be cautious about buying “as-is” or waiving inspections just to get a lower price.

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

You buy a property SubTo 2.

Subsequently I ended up buying property in 8 states, and a couple weeks ago bought 5 properties in 5 days in 3 states.

The 45 days identification time sometimes presents a challenge and if you dont give yourself a little wiggle room you might end up buying something you dont necessarily want/like. 

They also only charge 1.5% realtor commission for the selling side and obviously nothing for the buying side.