You get quarterly cash flow and then a nice profit at sale.This is a big reason more sophisticated investors migrate to commercial property due to these unique factors.  

Sophisticate away, friends!  

A slightly more sophisticated approach is to manage the risk to an acceptable level.

Outside of the huge difference in property values in the city vs. in the 'burbs, are suburban sellers just more sophisticated, and tend to sell via REALTORS more so than their inner-city counterparts?

The only setback is the perception from bankers, insurance, & the general public that there is marijuana present at her space.  

The BofA's, Chase's and other Too Big's of the world have some pretty sophisticated systems in place to monitor and manage REO.

In 9/10 times they are not going to very sophisticated people.

You'll seem "sophisticated".  

I plan on building a sophisticated financial model and pitch book to show potential employers. 

My dilemma is that I havent fixed on a strategy yet and am between pushing my budget to the 250-300 area and buying something that will hopefully appreciate (which based on my perception of Birmingham macro economics isn't sustainable) vs buying something more on the 100-150 range that I can perhaps rent out later on down the line when I become more comfortable with the market and / or there is a correction and prices come down, thus allowing me to move into something larger... any insight into the local view on the Birmingham market would be appreciated.Thank you