We have a preferred lender who studied the past election years and noticed the effect, but due to the pandemic and the normalizing of our market, can we expect there to be a surge come Jan 1 with the election being over and interest rates stepping down to affordable rates? 

Biggerpockets recently came out with a book on real estate strategy.You may want to give it a read.State with Strategy by Dave Meyer - https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/start-with-strategy

Get your finances in order and talk to a lender so you know what you can afford before thinking about location.

The best product we use in our business.

Chances are, a guy who can afford $5K in rent will eventually be employed again and want to deal with that judgment you obtained against him.

ThanmaI would recommend focusing on Anderson, SC, as it has experienced significant growth in recent years and serves as a more affordable alternative to Greenville, SC.

It is affordable and user friendly.

You would need to have a rock solid argument prepared for how community benefit (affordable housing?)

However, I posted on affordable housing website for about a few weeks and only received 1 inquiry.

I cannot afford for my first investment to not work out in my favor so believe me when I say investigation in my main concern right now.