@Salome Ditmars Finding a good group that has all of the characteristics you mentioned above is probably the fastest and easiest way.  

I think if people were a little more aware of/ comfortable with the fact that these human psychological booby traps not only exist, but are very easy to fall into even for the educated/experienced/professionals - it's how we're wired as animals - maybe fewer investors would get taken for these rides.

However, financial freedom isn’t a one-time event; it’s about sustaining your desired lifestyle for the rest of your life.Once you have your goals, the next decision is where to invest.Investment Market/CityThe investment city determines all long-term income characteristics, including whether rents rise fast enough to outpace inflation and how long your income will last.Understanding inflation: It takes more dollars to buy the same goods every time you go to the store.

If DOGE comes in and rips spending like an animal, we'll see some extreme pain. 

El Paso is a very different animal from the rest of Texas in that there isn't crazy high appreciation here so the rents allow for solid cash flow if that is what you're looking for.

Good luck- shoot me an IM if you'd like more info on my process..a little bit of background research and some phone calls can make your sq' price swing back a lot. 

Even the bigger people on here couldn't swing that or would have to Syndicate out which is another animal. 

How do you evaluate those things and more important what is the checklist I need to go over when considering a lot of these characteristics in Western North Carolina.

Or they could never get to the latter, because they never had the beginning characteristics which include the former to develop properly. 

I don't have the skill set YET to gauge rehab costs and try to BRRRR, but I'd like to learn.This is definitely a choice but my option is that you will do better if you focus on duplexes and cherry-pick a few SFRs as you come across them.As for your Strengths, it sounds like you have an excellent ability to save and your ability to bulk analyze data will serve you well to identify big-picture areas, property types, and characteristics to focus on.I like that you realize the first investment will not be your best investment.