With a budget of $300K-$400K, you could potentially find single-family homes or small multi-units in those areas.I'd recommend researching rental demand near universities like Duke or NC State or even checking out neighborhoods with strong job growth near tech hubs.

STRs work best in tourist-heavy areas with high demand, while LTRs perform well in markets with stable economies and diverse job opportunities.

You've done a great job with keeping your debt low so I have no concerns about your level of discipline to use/reuse a line of credit.All the best!

This year’s most popular areas are known for being fast-growing cities with plenty of new development, with healthy job growth in Florida and Texas in particular.

. --- Who gets all the phone calls and wastes time calming a tenant down because the owner's contractor doesn't show up as scheduled after they took time off from work or a 3 day job takes 3 weeks?

If you are broke and trying to quit your job asap, the answer will be much different than what an acceptable answer would be for a professional investor who is a multimillionaire.

It's a job. 

I currently work with investors looking to build their portfolio with single-family, long-term rentals while managing for them on the back end, making is hands-free for the investor to still work their W-2 job and live their everyday lives and spend it with family, hobbies, etc. 

No offense, but hire a PMC because:1) You hate the process of placing tenants.2) You didn't do a very good job of screening the current ones.Sometimes we have to get out of our own way to find success!

The investors that i work with look to theses growing markets of population and jobs to make an investment that both cash flows and will find appreciation.