SO YES....atlanta is a little unknown tourist gem to folks who stay here.

Why is the market only willing to pay $80-120k for these cash flow gems 2000 miles away from you when in your own back yard they pay $400k for less cash flow?

Sometimes you can uncover that amazing gem, but usually not.

@Giovanni Isaksen Yes, MP is mortgage payment.

Welcome,always nice to see another member from Tampa on board.This is a great time to begin in Tampa,there are still plenty of under priced gems in certain neighborhoods here.Besides all the great information here on BP I recommend looking at a ten year price chart for each house your interested in and see what they were selling for(or the estimated value) in 2006-2007.Some free realty sites like Zillow include charts,estimated sale and rent value.They are very rough estimates though that are within a 20% margin of error,there are plenty of errors but it is helpful to gauge the sentiment in the neighborhood. 

Curious to see if anybody uses any lesser known gems out there...

This is because the more active I am the more I run into the vacant gems.

I agree with @Giovanni Isaksen in his comments regarding cycles and alternative strategies & markets.

I agree with @Giovanni Isaksen .

Here is for you to ponder 'The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.- -- Chinese proverb