Personally, my favorite way of sourcing deals is building relationships with brokers and nurturing those relationships by checking in consistently.

Well you'd actually be netting more in the long run by doing so compared to putting it towards the home. 

Not the greatest occupancy rate, especially when compared with somewhere like the Smokies.

Research the options available, compare their benefits and risks, and decide which approach aligns best with your goals and preferences.House hacking is a great start.

Compare my bottom line to those who claim it's fine to invest where you get a $100 a month cash flow and sometimes actually even get rent. ;-) IMHO Thank you so much for your insight.

The Northeast and Midwest are expected to be less affected by the oversupply compared to the Sun Belt and luxury properties.

Compare similar listings—are they renting while yours sits vacant?

Appreciation kind of lags compared to other places further east in northern Alabama.

Unfortunately due to the business you choose to operate incidents like the one you experienced are more likely to occur compared to a property that's continually occupied by a tenant where the water would more likely be run at a higher frequency which would prevent the pipes from freezing.  

Comparing just those two things, you would save way more money in the long run by avoiding the annual mortgage interest.