The city however did not pick up on this.

Pick the lender you want to scale with.  

I picked up the BRRRR method book and feeling confident in setting it all up (we did a similar process for our Airbnbs).  

Seriously—Pick a Property TypeDetached houses might be the easiest to work with, but the real key is committing to a property type.

Welcome Gabriel, You picked a great spot to start.

What is the compelling reason for them to pick you, with your competitive rates, over someone else they've already been using with competitive rates? 

So - somewhere 2 hours away, or somewhere you like to vacation in, or where all your family lives, or where you plan to move someday.Too many people are trying to do exactly what you're doing - pick a market based on a formula - and they end up buying a random 'cheap' property thousands of miles away, turn it over to people they've never met or even spoken to, and then... lose money.  

If I would have used competent management, the manager that I picked and vetted, then it would have cash flowed, assuming they could have filled the vacancies.The big lesson I learned is that the property manager selected can make or break a deal. 

Quote from @Mathius Gazi: I picked up a two family last summer in New Haven and it is doing absolutely fantastic.

A couple problems dividing a property and selling in a “Timely” manner and then picking exchange properties of equal or greater value than the lots you sale.