@Andrew Johnson ,  potentially could have worked but the real problem with the midwest properties was not fully understanding the unplanned expenses and how difficult it would be to find tenants.  

Carpets in high traffic areas in rental homes simply do not work and is the elephant in the room when it comes to unplanned expenses.

@Steven McPhersonI had no money in the savings account but I did have a full-time job that I used to squirrel away money until I could afford to buy my 1st house in DFW.

Alex, you can analyze this in 10 different ways, but appliances, locks, simple plumbing in a rental will cost the same regardless of Condo or SFR, your paint and carpet cost may be less, if less SQ FT, but for the most part you want to squirrel away as much as you can, as fast as you can.  

Squirrels = Rats with fluffy tails.

Let me giove you an analogy.You are starving, and want to eat... you don't want to buy a gun to go hunting because it is way too expensive.. so the free way is to go chasing chickens and squirrels in the wild.Get it?

An Arkansas boy was frying up some squirrel.

@Amanda Young I squirrel away about $5500 per house.  

Besides, I don't want any unplanned trips to the hardware store for a fitting or materials I discover I need when connecting a new appliance to existing plumbing/electrical.

Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut, and I am just having to hunt that blind squirrel down.