@Diana Mulvihill A lot will depend on your local market and competition.

Quote from @Chantel Holsather: I am always an advocate if you can fix up a property to make it more marketable, that is really the way to go.

Spring may be better but I was unable to sell a cheap house in October for 5% off of “market value” and only sold a $600k home in January by listing it for $580k and I still only got one offer. ($150k down, 5 year seller financing.) my point being you may get $20-$40k more in a year if you don’t need to sell. 

Are you looking at investing in Birmingham or other markets?

Is my CoC return solid, or do I need to adjust anything based on my market?

Welcome to the real estate hive.. are you open to exploring off-market listings through your network? 

These were in the Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach markets, but I believe this is a factor to consider in any market you're looking at. 

It's tough to swallow, but if it's not renting, it's likely as simple as the market won't bear the price you're asking.

-Finding off-market deals and securing financing with limited capital.

I’m pretty busy with my job as it’s a 24/7 industry, I don’t have time to handle aggressively hunting for off market deals however I could still do it with mailers, as I’m in no rush to purchase right away.