You can then figure out if that will work with what you can afford in the area and cross reference that to make sure your deals would still be attractive given the BAH rate for the area. 

I am currently working on acquiring some turn-key type rentals out of state in the Midwest and Southern US, where the rent rates are very attractive.

The village has done a lot to improve itself and attract new businesses and development over the past few years, which is translating nicely into property value appreciation.

@Suzanne - I know people are still big on the appreciation play in Ballard, Queen Anne, etc. but a property like that with a CAP of less than 3.5% doesn't seem very attractive.

@Nicholas White - I'm looking for a Single Family and to be on top of all the processes of the deal; learning everything hands-on until I feel more comfortable and move to multi family rentals.And about Atlanta, definitely very attractive market.

I don't mean to discredit the posters above as I've seen them make great points in other threads, but just because a property won't appreciate or attract anything but struggling people doesn't equate to "beware" or "move elsewhere."  

Then, once you've shown that you can meet or exceed return projections to family and friends, you can attract additional capital from passive investors.Regardless, real estate is a long-term game, so any strategy you use will likely take years to get off the ground.

They only need to close within a time frame that includes the first one to sell (in other words they all sell within 180 days of the sale of the first property) as long as you can locate the right replacement and get the right terms.Another very attractive option would be to scale down a little and maybe look for a replacement property that you could get for $600K - like a 2.4 - $3 mil property that needs $400K of work to get it to high functioning. 

Space is attractive, with a large atrium in center that provides an open, light-filled, airy feeling. 

So, you don't have to build the Taj Mahal to attract tenants.