For instance, around my neighborhood, many units are not pet friendly.

Having said that I live in a neighborhood where some older subdivisions do not have HOA while adjoining newer subdivisions do have HOA.

It was a pretty beat up property in a tough neighborhood in the depths of the downturn.

With that said I am opening up more to the idea of single family homes In cleaner neighborhoods, but still being new to the area, unsure where exactly those places are. 

I can understand the desire to have a great cash flow and high ROI with no $$ in the deal, but I don't see the point in running your numbers based on that goal, and making a decision based on those number.....especially if your real plan is to put 20-25% down anyway......If you can find a place that cash flows well with zero down.....and isn't a BRRR deal, then that's pretty awesome6.5% ROI isn't "bad" .....its just not great.....there are other OOS places that have the potential to do better....but some of them come with a higher risk (lower class neighborhoods etc).

If you want a better neighborhood to invest in then go further east to Bosart Brown and north to Emerson Hts, (as mentioned in previous post above) Englewood-This area is located south of Michigan to south of Washington to the railroad tracks and Rural east to Lasalle.

Check out the neighborhood before you buy.

I’ve check comps homes are selling around 20-45k around the neighborhood rent going from 750-900.

I am just looking for a good starting place to begin researching specific neighborhoods/options/realtors.

I would call the area a B neighborhood.