With a budget of $300K-$400K, you could potentially find single-family homes or small multi-units in those areas.I'd recommend researching rental demand near universities like Duke or NC State or even checking out neighborhoods with strong job growth near tech hubs.

Quote from @Kash Tacke: Hi,I have two single family houses in Detroit currently rented out. 

One piece of advice I often repeat is that the goal of diversification is to reduce or eliminate any single point of failure.  

I'm most interested in Single-Family or Multi-Family Homes with the intention of having Mid or Long-Term rentals (although I am not opposed to Short-Term either).

It could be either single family or multifamily.

He believes that area where he will be buying the new homes is going to appreciate and attract more MTRenters, but now, the big difference is that he would now have 3 properties that can go up (or potentially down) in value, go up (or down) in rent, and three times as many vacancies to fill.My back of the napkin assessment is that for only a drop in $200 a month in cash flow, he would control a lot more assets with growth potential and as rents rise over the coming years, the combined rents will increase to a total more than the single rent.HOWEVER.

Consider whether an LLC is right for you—it can provide liability protection but isn’t essential for a single property, as personal liability insurance and an umbrella policy may suffice.

Bundling both properties in a single study may reduce costs.

The other is a Single Family long term rental.

All these years later and not a single reply from anyone who knows about it!