ClasonStart with an honest assessment of your household finances: savings, credit, debt, etc.

Another area that is great for multi family is Dupage County, it's going to cost you a pretty penny but rents there are growing at a fast pace and people rent those for those high prices because it's a good area top 25 county in the country and people can't afford single family houses there unless they make at least 100 k per household which is alot for the midwest.

According to the 2000 Census, of the 17,890 housing units inside city limits, 15,966 were occupied, 10,033 of them by families. 31.1% of occupied households had children under the age of 18, 36.2% were married couples living together, 23.3% consisted of a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

I create "pre-app" forms on Google Forms that ask about pets, who will be living in the house, their household income bracket, history of evictions or violent felonies, and even give the applicant a chance to brag on themselves a bit to tell us why they'd make a great tenant.Once I collect these pre-apps I take only the qualified applicants and show them the house, then if they are still interested, I invite them to go through the full application process with background/credit checks from there.

- What is the total household income?

If they’re getting the price they’re asking for, that’s good.Low unemploymentPer capita and median household income risingGdp growthAny thoughts on which of these is more important and if any are ignorable?

Also they didn't build almost any in the Last 7-8 years, so around 150-200k behind. this is the same in every major cities. but if you are willing to do Reno, there are still some gems to be found. banks require 10% from first time buyers and 20% from others. onlu allowed to lend up to 3.5 times the total household income. 30% required from investors. government is hoping for the landlords to sort out the housing problems, but at the same time won't allow us to make any profits on it and create too tenant friendly legislations.Thanks for your replies guys. 

@Max Householder has a good recommendation as well. 

Household income of 35k over the course of 1 year we saved up 18k (LIVED ON NOTHING) and put 10k down on a 70k duplex.  

@Zach Stillman and @Max Householder - thanks for the advice and heads up on the taxes.