I think long term future trends will continue to support affordable real estate markets. 

I look forward to reading all of the productive and helpful posts you and others have posted as I believe in becoming the best investor and property owner possible.

Also, since you like Sherwin products, their Superpaint works pretty well for this type of application.

I personally like long term rentals, but it sounds like the numbers don't make sense and if you cant afford to or can't justify covering that much negative cash flow then another strategy is renting by the room, that works well if you have or can convert to at least 4 or 5 bedrooms. 

Columbus is a solid market due to its high demand for affordable housing and relatively affordable property prices.

Birmingham is a great market for real estate investment right now—it offers solid rent-to-price ratios, affordable home prices, and consistent rental demand.If you’re thinking about investing in Birmingham, I can provide some helpful data and share insights about neighborhoods that align with your goals.

If you can find an affordable way to get a degree it should hopefully improve your earning potential.

The massive influx of full-time residents to our market in the last 5 years has led to a shortage of affordable housing for renters. 

If you take the lower value areas the only reason people choose to live there is the affordability really.

I like them both, in general, but the best way to find a town to invest in outside of where you live if it's not affordable and if you don't want to be withing driving distance easily (recommended) is to make two lists:1. every town you have ever lived in or visited for more than a month2. every town your closest friends and family live (the ones you like)Then you take those two lists and see where they overlap with the data or lists you are using.