As a person who has lived in NC & SC and Phoenix, I would highly suggest AZ.

Here's the problem - in order to be fully dialed in the model needs to be unstable.

So if you discount a small amount to get rolling, that is something that can work, but don't want to stay low for long.You will start to get the dregs staying at your place and they can do some real damage to the place.

Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

If the US proves out to be the safest investment haven globally and sees continued capital inflows, Treasuries will likely compress / fall and investors will turn to real estate to continue to diversify.  

You have to be able to have the full amount in cash within a few weeks of the auction.

You'll likely also reduce your cost of living by moving to a stabilized apartment.Depending on the cashflow and debt paydown, you can use this strategy until you've built enough equity to reinvest.On the other hand, getting into a multi-family after refinancing will also help you build substantial equity to rinse and repeat in the coming years.

Detroit is a great city to invest in one just has to be aware that is is a block by block city and to be careful

I usually assume it will take 60-days to lease up.

@Tariq B...going to chime in here.