I'm also not sure how that area fared after Irma, but I bet there was some degree of flooding. 

I have to think this is your best bet by far.2) Craigslist3) Realtors.  

There's a fairly common thought/belief that it's safer to have 100 small checks a month than 10 big ones.  

The University area is very good to invest in with decent returns and a safe bet

I think you best bet on a smaller sized multi-family in this case is to allow tenants to connect their own washer/dryer for a fee or just charge slightly more rent for the convenience rather than buy coin-op machines. 

I currently invest in both, the path of progress are great but you are betting on the actions of others, so while the pay off is potentially huge, it sometimes doesn't work out as planned.

Houston is going to be your best bet at this point, New Orleans is really tight, deals are very hard to come by these days.

Betting its good old fashioned foundation damage.You will want to have not only an inspector take a look, but you might see if you can find a foundation company or structural engineer to check things out and get you a quote, because most inspectors will just tell you its a foundation issue and not provide any background on the scope.Foundation issues are common in Texas, every house you will come across will have issues to some extent.

I can't think of anything safer than a savings account.

The other day my uncle received a $1 bill in the mail from someone offering to buy his house --- I bet they used your Property Search feature to find him (100% equity, in a very desirable market of California, purchased back in the 80's).