Buy and renovate the property and in 6 months do a simple cash out refinance and pull out some cash and start the REI process all over again.I am North of you up in Pinellas County West of Tampa and there are also some great places up here that might save you some cash. 

@Jeremy H. yes on the north side of Chicago which is where I own properties and work as a realtor the average 3/4 unit is worth 700-1.4 million so actually higher then your $850k mark.

The Austin metro was among the hottest destinations in the country for where people were moving last year, according to the latest annual ranking from U-Haul International Inc.Austin ranked No. 5 among the top U.S. growth metros in 2024, and Texas was the No. 2 state for move-ins — bested from the top spot after three consecutive years by South Carolina, according to data released Jan. 2 and Jan. 3.The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area took the crown for the top growth metro in the recent list, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina (No. 2); Phoenix (No. 3); and, Lakeland, Florida (No. 4).

The unit is within blocks of Harvard University and a billion other universities are within a few miles.

I have seen a post from a guy that broke down his criteria for properties above 200k and below 200k and the price he is willing to pay for "deals" is so low the owners would be practically giving them away like buying an owner out saving them from a foreclosure and his comp forcast is for a 1 mile radius not 5 or 10.

Without predictability on insurability and risk of the primary collateral being destroyed (which at this point theoretically could happen anywhere) as it’s January, and would you believe in 2023 that 71K thousand square miles of northern Canada burned 5% of the entire Canadian forest with billions in damages? 

So I keep my eyes on North and North West Raleigh, Cary/Morrisville, South Point Durham, and Bethesda Durham into 27703.Size doesn't matter as much with short term rentals.

Purchase price: $199,900 Sale price: $212,000 Fourplex north of Austin.

Move more than 50 miles from an ocean or major city and there is a ton of affordable housing. 

City regulations require some kind of license for most property that is uninhabited or otherwise out of active use for three months or longer.Of the funds’ rental licenses, about 40 have lapsed and have not been renewed, but that doesn’t appear to be stopping Mendenhall from accommodating rent-paying tenants at at least some of those properties.The Inquirer visited eight properties with lapsed licenses in West and North Philadelphia.