As for the areas to target, my goal in getting our feet wet as real estate investors--and since we plan to be living in Sac--is to find a property we can live in while renting out one or more units to help cover our housing expenses, which we can then hold and continue to rent out when we move.

My target tenants are travel nurses and other traveling professionals with the occasional vacationer.I’m curious to know if any of you had success in the area and what have been your keys to success and downfalls.

My wife and I have overhauled our personal budget to reflect the 'pay yourself first' approach (allocate in order: income comes in -> invest -> donate -> fixed expenses -> variable expenses -> fun $$).We are looking to see what experienced people generally recommend for a holding tank for that 'invest' allocation while we target our first real estate deal.What financial vehicles have you guys used that works well for this?

How do you determine a reasonable target return?

If they have the right infrastructure in place, they can help with finding properties and determining sales comps for the markets you want to target.

What is the target acquisition price and how much capital do you have ready to deploy immediately?

Targeted marketing would come via social media, which is usually priced on a $ per impression or $ per click basis.  

What type of properties are you targeting?

You have a far better chance trying to sell to an individual than targeting hedge funds.

For example, are there specific documents or information I should prepare, or would identifying a target property first be more beneficial?