Yes, the taxes are higher however NJ commands higher rents too. 

Kalkaska has more jobs..I like next to and am very familiar with the shanty creek area so maybe I'll look into vacation rentals more..Anything on nice lakes or Lake Michigan prices seem to go up faster than rent so may be harder to cash flow but property value for such places might have a better future outlook..I'm not sure what I'm up to yet, really prices everywhere seem borderline too high to cashflow for what rent they will command so I'm thinking it's really going to come down to finding good deals..

The area is clearly developing quickly but I see mixed signals on the rents that can be commanded by non-full service buildings. 

your guess is as good as mine.... first goes to sale if its a red hot property in a great area probably over bids and he has some overages .. could even be made whole who knows.the point is as you said.. there is simply no riskier investment than a gap funder on a build deal.. only way you do that is as a true equity partner so you have some command and control.. and you get half the profit if not more..

Truth is I was making a sublte personal offer to Kirsten since her and I both invest in the same area and she knows I'm prior service ;) ;) You're right though, you can always call a service member staff duty or chain of command to verify.

The good thing with military is they have a guaranteed income and you can complain to their command if something isn't sitting right :)

And while the SCRA is important to know about you can also go to military person's chain of command if they stop paying, etc. 

. $35k cash for a 4 Bed, 2 bath that I think would easily command $1,000/mo. post-rehab (9+% cap).

So don't get discouraged when you get a supervisor or commander you can't stand.  

For houses over $200k you have to command such high rents that many cannot afford.