As others have alluded to, buying larger units or a house near the beach is a better play. 

Glad to help you connect with others in the area as well

Just a quick question that I cant find answered other places. 

Lets say its $270k and you are financing $220k and it takes a year at 12% thats $26k in interest plus other costs etc.

Lots of other people had bad experiences. 

Those are buyers not renters unless there is some other circumstance.I think you are right about supply....apartment construction is just about to come to a halt and unless interest rates drop in 1/2 probably won't see that pickup for a while. 

Great tenant that always pays on time - been there for 5 years Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We would have bought a duplex and rented out the other side but didn't know that was in the cards for us when it was.

Look at buying my first investment property (probably a house in the 100-150k range) and begin looking for a tennant.I can imagine there a lot of different theories/ideas with what one could do here--I am just curious to see what other people think.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?