My goal is to continue to acquire more cash flowing rentals to eventually leave my day job and just self manage the rental properties. 

My husband and I are Teachers and Nurses but dream of supplementing our W2 jobs with passive/investment income. 

Columbus also has great macroeconomics - lots of job growth, population growth, and major employers developing here.

Has the tenant been looking for a new job?  

The problem many of us run into is being in New England, many of the markets are high cost, high appreciation markets that we either can't get pre qualified for, or even after moving out will struggle to cash flow.Another big constraint is that many of us have W-2 jobs in engineering that require some days in the office, and these types of higher paying jobs are primarily in major cities (most of us are in the Boston area).Lastly, a lot of us have significant others that may be less interested in living somewhere "random" because it makes sense as an investment.

Our job is to rapidly identify, qualify and analyze all listings, tour the propsect as soon as possible and write workable and winnable offers.

Reason: I signed a new job offer at a nonprofit yesterday and having extensive knowledge of the real-estate market in Philly would be very helpful.

For starter, I am married to my 9-5 job and looking for a way out.

What would be the best ways to familiarize myself with construction process, while still maintaining my W-2 job? 

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.