High crime has a LOT to do with absentee landlords and the concentration of lower income rental units in an area.

You want an area with strong cash sales and low days on the market.Build your buyers' list for the areas that you want to concentrate in.Start looking for properties matching your buyers' criteria.Analyze, negotiate and put under contract (between you and the seller - A to B transaction)Deliver A to B contract to the title company with earnest money (tell the title company to open escrow but don't quite order title yet)Now market to your buyers' list (your goal is to have a strong buyers' list, where 90% of your properties will sell to your list, not social media, craigslist, other wholesalers, etc. - this is crucial)Write a contract with your buyer (B to C transaction - deliver to title company - order title work)Proceed to closingYour first concern is to put the property under contract with the seller (A to B.)

I could go on about me but lets concentrate on you. 

Foreclosure investing for dummies is a fun and oddly comprehensive (if not high level) NOLO press paperback, on foreclosure purchasing.What state are you planning on concentrating your efforts on?

Financial/real estate/investing education, live a frugal life style and save every penny, concentrate on getting your credit score in the high 7s.Education is all available on line, cash and high credit score are necessary for success.What you must do is make investing your first priority in life and by doing so it will all fall into place.

@Alice Huang, at that price point I would abandon SFR and concentrate on multis.

Just buy what you have to have and try not to get into debt unless you are making a positive cash flow on it.I live in Dallas,Texas and I do not know much about Idaho so I cannot help you much there  but concentrate on the high growth areas to invest in. 

If your looking for B - C areas I would concentrate my search efforts on the outer ring areas and certain areas within the urban center. 

Mortgages aren't the Titans of Detroit that cars once were, and I have no personal material or financial interest in Detroit aside from (obviously) lots of telephone-only colleagues there, but it is one area I will be watching for a "repeat" of what can  happen when too much business in a metro area is concentrated in a single industry. 

-I love the advice of concentrating on a younger associate.