Ohio/Indiana could be a good option for you, but you'll need to find small towns with a diverse workforce that does not rely on only one industry.

Your campaign may look likeMonth 1 Large PostcardMonth 2 Small PostcardMonth 3 Zip Letter Month 4 Small Post CardMonth 5 Personal/Yellow LetterMonth 6 Large PostcardI would make sure I had enough money to do a diverse mailing like this without getting a deal.

I agree @Todd Dexheimer, always great to have a diverse portfolio of investments especially like a syndication.

Modern/diverse economies6..

If you're open to going out of state, look for markets that are not only affordable and cash flow well, but also have strong economic and demographic fundamentals like growing populations, growing jobs and diverse economies.

Rochester is a very diverse area. 

I like Chicago because it seems like a sufficiently economically diverse city to not have issues like we've seen in Detroit.

With both mortgages at only around 50k, the ratio's are decent and they are fairly low-risk.With about 50k left in cash and a 35k HELOC available -- it seems that money is best spent expanding my portfolio vs. paying off the two SFH's -- I'd ideally like to grab a duplex or triplex to add some diversity (and hopefully higher cashflow) to the portfolio.  

Is it better to have the diversity of a specific retirement account, or to have the flexibility to use the investment in different ways in the future? 

Cheyenne is also a pretty safe bet, as their economy is probably the most diverse one in the state.