Before thinking about RE, I'd make sure my personal emergency fund is topped off. 

New water heater, new stove, new fridge, numerous repairs, and a water leak emergency that I should have fixed on my own but went with a company who charged me $700 to fix something I could have done myself for basically free.Now, I probably have a bit of a crappy house with all the things that have gone wrong with it, but I also had super conservative estimates behind my CAPEX and maintenance.

If you know your market, how to effectively analyze deals and have a rockstar core 4 (agent, prop mgr, contractor, lender) in place as David advises, I think you can invest in any emerging market no matter how close or far. 

Probably minimal education, low income, no emergency fund, poor credit and/or in some sort of government assistance...for life because this is the USA and somehow people can do just that. 

House hacking with a VA loan is a good place to start, just make sure you have enough cash set aside in reserves for those emergency repairs.

Always provide a phone number but explain that is in case of emergency.3.

I have heard good things about the Mesa Area, as well as the emerging Apache Junction Help I do not want to experience another 7 month Minnesota winter! 

That's emergency debt! 

How much are you putting away from emergency costs and repairs, and how much are you looking for in profit for these smaller units?

You need to have emergency savings and a maintenance reserves...I suspect if you are having trouble building the 3% then you may not have those important cushions in place.