I want to strike a good balance between area's safety and ROI - should feel comfortable visiting without needing to looking over the shoulder or worry about high burglary rates  :) Good schools are a bonus too, but ROI trumps. 

My preference would be to continue renting if he would ever have to leave but would also like to have an exit strategy to sell if necessary.Current areas considered would be within striking distance of the Perimeter mall area, i.e.

Well, Murphy strikes...  3rd contract came in at 7:00.  

@Michael Randle A basic overview of Driving for Dollars is to pick an area and drive around looking for distressed properties, knock on the doors and the neighbor's doors and see if you can make contact with the owner and strike a deal.

HOA strikes again..

There's lots of people out there in striking range (560 or 580 or so).  

If so, what are the biggest differences, or the most striking similarities?

It requires so much more energy, creativity, sweat, and sheer determination to strike out on the less-traveled path and stick with it despite the many, many challenges and setbacks. 

These are the risks when flipping multi million dollar homes, you can hit it big or you can strike out with bases loaded!

It strikes me as interesting as someone who rents to own a couch or washer machine.