While not military, I have many similar circumstances, including the constraints, as an investor.Right now I am aiming to continue educating myself, but I would like, ideally, to reach out to folks in Jacksonville, FL (and other FL areas), Alabama, and Tennessee to build teams and expand my investments. 

Just playing devils advocate and posing questions that i would ask myself before i went down the road you're thinking about heading down.

I am sure 99% of people on BP are ethical - however, you never know and someone can swoop the deal from right under your nose.2) I think $160,000 is personally a little bit high for that property.3) Alot of the basements in Allentown built in that period are not ideal for another unit.You may be to fix it to add additional square footage; but not another unit.

Not knowing a whole lot about your financial situation, I would recommend playing it safe. 

Maybe you have a duty station where family lives or something that would be an ideal place to invest.

@Michael Le : yup, i agree. ideally i would like to go as large as i can go without being fiscally irresponsible and since i am a newbie to this, dont want to bite off more than i can chew.

Hi GuysI started to play around with the rental property calculator and quickly found out that there is a lot of information that I don't know and/or not sure how to find it.

An ideal agent would be someone who enjoys working with a first time home buyer, who has the heart of a teacher, and who is familiar with investing strategies.

The only time comps  come into play is for the appraisal, and the appraisal is important for financing. 

Ideally I'd move into it, then rent it out later on.I've saved up another $150K or so in cash, which I had intended to use to buy another property.