Credit scores are a reflection of someone's ability to learning and understanding the rules of the game and haveing the discipline to play by them.If you already have good credit, already pay everything on time (autopay), then increaseing your limits will probably help you the most, because it gets your utilization down, ideally under 10%.Higher hanging fruits are average credit and account age (just have to wait for that I guess) and inquiries, which are sometimes unavoidable as real estate investors.  

This ensures the property performs well even under less-than-ideal circumstances.If a property doesn’t align with your goals, it’s perfectly fine to move on.

So if lots of parking, ideally walking distance to busses or transportation to cut down on cars, you might get away with it (legally).Operationally;  this is a can of worms to manage. 

I am looking for recommendations for a stacking washer/dryer and gas range, ideally something that will hold up to renters for a longer period of time.

However, I have no idea how to choose from the remaining cities, it seems there are a lot of potential options:- Midwest - Michigan (ie: Grand Rapids) seems to have options, also seeing Columbus Ohio and Indianapolis coming up- Reno - I've seen mentioned several times on here- Pittsburgh / Philadelphia / Twin Cities - All mentioned as lower cost to get started, and seem to be experiencing growthI'd ideally like to find a place that has strong potential for future growth, a diversified economy, and I don't mind living in (being close to nature would be a plus). 

Prepared to hold for 8 years, ideally 10-12.

A duplex, triplex, or fourplex is ideal because the more units, the more financing options banks may offer.

Idealizing a past scenario is purely negative.

I'd go for the best location, ideally, but without a strong compromise on your funds.

I like the ideal of buying supplies instead of an upfront deposit; if the contractor skip town then at least you still have your supplies unless they stole them too.