Pretty exciting to see this kind of activity after working in a depressed market for such a long stretch of time.I've got family in Rochester Hills and Utica, btw.

I'll look into that area.I also have to disagree on one thing--Exit 253 in Schererville has the biggest selection of restaurants in a one-mile stretch I have ever seen :) Living in Chicago but growing up in Fort Wayne, sometimes I miss all those unhealthy chain restaurants I used to think nothing of. 

That way you can be creative to stretch your capital further to scale quicker. 

I do not think that is a stretch.

Before this opportunity came about we were planning on buying a house and moving out of this rental anyway and our ceiling was 300k but thought we could stretch it a bit for a good deal/to stay where we are with the upgrade of moving to the other, bigger nicer unit/and have the supplemental income for not so much work.

I know its a stretch, but keep in mind it comes with a full personal guarantee.

So it was very common for us to spend 50 to 60% of our gross income on house payment alone.400k homes with a beat up Camry in the driveway  LOL> But on the flip side the Prime areas of America stretching to get that home you can live in for years and own for years I think is worth the risk...

If the property makes it past all/most of these things (I have a good idea what it costs to fix all of them), you are in the home stretch.

Just to be clear I don't LOVE this house- by any stretch.

The tech start up area you're mentioning is called Cortex (http://cortexstl.com/), which is in the central stretch between Barnes-Jewish and the SLU campus.