I can also allow a tenant to grow with me - just moved a family from a two bedroom to a three bedroom apartment.Personally the only reasons I would choose to invest in multiple markets is a) because I wanted an excuse to go somewhere regularly or b) for economic/geographic diversity.I had the advantage that my home market was good.

Buy-in is often more conducive than other more saturated markets and there's such a wide variety of options to choose from. 

People with high risk tolerance will have a far different answer than someone who is risk averse. 

Since you know what you need to buy it at and an average rehab cost, I would say $50-70k for a cosmetic flip, set the ARV based on the sample you choose and doing comps and ask them if they would invest in a deal similar to this. 

Also Minoan has so many companies to choose from which makes it confusing if you don't know the suppliers well.

There are so many to choose from.

Covering the mortgage isn’t an issue, but I’m considering factors like: Multi-Family: House hacking would help offset costs right away, but I’d likely need to put money into renovations upfront.Single-Family: Easier move-in with no immediate renovations needed, plus potentially lower tenant turnover once I rent it out For those who have been in a similar situation, what did you choose and why?

Specifically:What area did you choose, and why?

I was looking there myself and curious what areas you would choose for a mix of cash flow and appreciation? 

Obviously, the at least 42 input variables can be adjusted to your own risk tolerance, but this is far easier/quicker than to re-create the entire input.You can find the link on my profile page.