These are mostly older, 100yr old homes with all kinds of styles and sizes. 

Some costs (repair the dish washer, carpet cleaning at unit turnover, etc.) are pretty fixed regardless of rent level.

I appreciate both of you and all of the helpful information that you dish out on BP.

They will also do a demo with you in which they walk you through the site as well as send you a couple different styles to look at.

At this point I'm trying to figure out which area might be of interest  to me, which style of investing and when to pull the trigger (you may have seen above that my fiancee only has a job for another year and after that could be moved anywhere in the world).  

At least 3 similar styled homes, sold within the last 3-6 months, similar number of bedrooms and baths and amenities (garages, basements, pools, etc).

Concentrate on saving as much money as you possible can by living a frugal life style.

this are townhome style duplexes so I can't control all the neighbor's dogs.

I'd like to see you ply your pleasant inquisitive self and use your classy style personality.

Also, garden style, 2 story buildings is nice for cost control.