I would knock down an old building structure in or off downtown.  

Bought my first property near downtown Seattle that had two homes on it for 26K. 

Down town is really vibrant. 

Since downtown development land goes for $30 million/acre, $100k imposed by the progressive city government for a 40 story building permit is a minor annoyance.

I wish I was closer to downtown but not exactly downtown, that's why Lake View is my dream neighborhood haha.

For context, downtown Alexandria performs super well as a rental market and bringing in $5.5k+ as the monthly rental income if you choose to move out of the househack in the future will be absolutely feasible (depending on the property of course).

Does physically going to downtown reveal more info than the Cook County Circuit court website?

Generally speaking the closer you get to downtown the rougher the area is.

Tampa for example, the most desirable STR's are also very desirable to owner occupants (near beaches, near downtown, etc). 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Topeka.

Purchase price: $215,000

Cash invested: $450,000

This is my first full rehab and purchase of a property which. It will be...