One key detail I neglected to mention is that my wife and I are also hoping to stay as close as possible to the University of Utah since we are both students there and our work is there as well.

My name is Isaac and I am currently a junior at Marquette University, living in Seattle. 

A little about myself, I attended Texas A&M University, class of 2014, Whoop!

Welcome to the Bigger Pockets universe @Austin Pekarek !

I am an Econ major from the University of Dayton and a former Division 1 Baseball player. 

I am a university professor with a good income. 

To join a syndication in an equity position in a lot of cases one has to be an accredited investor.

I have been doing a lot of back of the envelope calculations using 1% of the financed amount vice 1% of purchase price and that seems to be the go no-go point for positive cash-flow for a lot of deals these days.From what I've seen, and my investigation is just in it's invancy, rental rates seem to drop off qucikly as you move away from the university (like outside 1 mile).

He mentioned real estate note funds but the only ones I find are for accredited investors. 

Completing a 1031 Exchange allows you to defer that tax and depreciation liability and invest in another rental property or something like a DST (Delaware Statutory Trust), if you're an accredited investor.