That's probably too big an area for someone just starting out so I hope to narrow it down a bit as I go along.

I've narrowed down the list to neighborhoods I would comfortably walk around with my family in. 

They're Person A, Person B, and Person C.The lease is up on April 1st. 

We started looking at single family homes as a plan B and have now discovered that we’re coming up short by a few thousand dollars on a 200k home, with 5% down and paying closing costs.

Can I asked how you narrowed it down to those four towns and if considering any others?

If you are looking for something that will cash flow you would have to get more into the landlord side of real estate, but this would further narrow your financing options.

. - I would like to focus on B and C+ properties only.- Strategy is long-term buy and hold.- Purchase price to Rent ratio = 1% minimum- SFR to start off with, would consider multi-family in future based on performance/faith in team.- Minimum 1 purchase 2018.

If B- and below maybe you can offer one tenant lower rent to do it.

I was narrowing down and loan depot is on the list.

This helped me narrow things down.