I currently own a 1 bed 1 bath single-family house as my primary residence. Purchased in 2015 for $57k seller financed. I renovated it down to the studs. New kitchen and bathroom. I refinanced it into a  5% 30-year mo...

Geographically speaking anything you could drive to and from in a day would be a great start.

How do you go about finding areas to invest in with limited capital?

If you're going to do a lot of D4D, then you might want to have that, too.When I do D4D, I use PropStream to locate a number of properties in a small geographic area. 

What geographical areas are you two focusing in? 

When choosing a location for your first rental, it’s great that you’re considering factors like crime rate, population growth, employment rate, and price-to-rent ratio—those are all key metrics.

Here are some general guidelines: Lien Position1st Position LienEquityMinimum Down Payment of 20-25% (a 30% equity to sale price is preferred)Down Payment made in certified funds and not borrowedMaximum Funding of 70% ITV (Investment to Value)SeasoningMinimum of two monthly payments already made12 months or more preferredPayer CreditCredit Score of 650 or higherNo major derogatory trade lines (No 90-180+ days delinquent, foreclosure, repossession, bankruptcy, etc.)No decline in credit since purchase of businessTermsPrefer 60 months or lessMaximum of 72 monthsNo Balloon Payment preferredCash FlowBusiness has positive cash flow1.25 debt service coverage ratio preferred.DocumentationPersonal guarantee from a creditworthy individualStandard documents including Note, Security Agreement, and UCC-1 filing.Tax Returns on the business that substantiate profit and loss statements.OtherPayment history current and verifiablePayer Interview indicating buyer is satisfied with business and comfortable making paymentsMotivation for selling the note is not a result of a deteriorating businessConsideration of high risk businesses or geographic areasIn these situations, sometimes a partial is a better option. 

What geographic market areas?

The truly tragic natural disasters in California, North Carolina, Florida and others of the past six months are evidence that no location is truly 'climate safe,' however there are geographical areas that can expect less weather extremes and lower costs of living, developing, insuring and seemingly...surviving. 

I’ve worked for some group home providers where they employ a maintenance worker who handles some of these issues (usually if the have multiple homes in a specific geographic location) and I’ve worked for homes where the handiest employee fixes things and that option doesn’t always have the best outcomes.