In more detail, this would be my advice, based on what friends have done:  Buy a house with a lot of bedrooms and bathrooms for its price with a walk-out basement; have other people (usually servicemembers) as roommates, renting by the room; house-hack the basement into another unit, and as long as you don't install a stove you stay legal where you aren't allowed to subdivide but you can still have a large toaster oven, a hot plate, and a full sized fridge; then you have two complete units (local-style) when you are deployed elsewhere that will result in a decent positive cashflow and, if you bought in the right place, probably appreciation; cash out whenever the market surges and invest in somewhere that cashflows better with all your profits.  

Not even counting anything related to the RE/Escrow part of the sale, you still need a good chunk of money, like you say...moving, repairs, furniture, landscaping, new BBQ, beer fridge, Etc....I'd allow at least $5k....

We put a fridge in the living room and they cooked with a microwave.

Nathan,     To your first point, I have two years of rent equivalency saved in reserves for this property; we replaced the roof two years ago, all appliances except the fridge are new or refurbished, the water heater has been replaced and the fence/gates mended from a tornado.

A fridge yes, washer dryer not as much.

Paint and new flooring, put in a new stove and fridge also.

They left the unit in pretty rough shape: smoke damage in every room, ceiling fan broken, bedroom door broken in half, trash left behind, food rotting in fridge, and just general damage throughout.

The only fridges that fit are $10k.

Everything in it is relatively new or in good condition, except it's missing a fridge.

Everything in it is relatively new or in good condition, except it's missing a fridge.