If you are not in a good neighborhood, you will not be attracting great tenants and sharing a duplex with someone can be a highly stressful and unpleasant experience, especially if the structure is not truly conducive to being a duplex.

Quote from @Landon Sheveland: Curb appeal to attract attention, then kitchens and bathrooms are usually the most important areas to focus on.

This my friends on BP is just the reality of Real Estate you have two basic methods One mom and pop keep their day jobs and start buying long term hold rentals as they can afford them and if they like it they keep at it..Two you jump in the game and try to make money transactionally IE RE Broker  Flipper Wholesaler MLO  leasing agent etc etc.. this also is a long term ramp.. what the Guru programs attract generally speaking is those that get excited think they can somehow buy a program ( any program pick one) and its going to jump start them to this mythical financial freedom everyone talks about..

Dachtera was championing here, it is even less attractive in countries were mortgage terms are far shorter than the amortization (i.e. almost anywhere but the U.S.A.).  

If you’re really set on building a portfolio, this might be a good way to go since it’ll give you the liquidity to take on more properties.BRRRR: If you’re leaning towards long-term rental income and portfolio growth, the BRRRR method could be an attractive option, but you’re right to consider the numbers carefully.

I know Virginia Beach is attractive but that average price for Alexandria strikes me as rather low.

The market is saturated with STR's further from the beach and attractions, so my advice is to be picky about your location and underwrite the numbers carefully to make sure the investment will be profitable. 

With platforms like Airbnb or Hipcamp, you can attract travelers looking for unique stays.

A steady annual growth rate, diverse industries, and affordable living attract residents.

I had a few houses that lost about 30k in equity overnight in the area (had been considering selling to do a 1031 into some new builds, but that turned into a less attractive idea after the equity drop).