Take your time and don't let FOMO distract you from your long term goals. 20 years from now, it won't matter whether you bought a house this year or next.

You can look on websites like https://www.corporatehousingbyowner.com/search/United-States... and https://www.furnishedfinder.com to see what similar houses are rented for.

Hey @Jonathan Baptiste, so we are a bit different than some.We have a large house that can sleep 12 comfortably and we provide a lot of stuff.

You do realize how you got the house right?

But I'm gathering that this may be a fools errand if the house is not appreciating.

A lot of our housing stock here has finished basements or in-law suites, so with something like that you can generate significant rental income for an inexpensive conversion. 

How many micro units will you have in that one house?

If I were investing in eastern WA, or where my extended family lives in Pennsylvania, those 100k houses in good condition are a real thing there.  

We plan to stay in this house for more than 5 years unless another great opportunity arises, but maybe it is best to allocate a bigger portion of savings to our real estate investment savings account than our home improvement savings account for the first few years.

The front end can sometimes be tedious to get approved by the local housing authority, but rent payments are always timely.