It sounds like you should be in the driver's seat then.You might consider working with a strong real estate agent on the purchase.  

Mad?

I think that in itself is one of the huge drivers of why so many people are moving there. 

A high percentage of owner-occupied properties is likely a consequence of the above four factors, and it could also be a great proxy for measuring the attractiveness of a deal in light of these non-financial aspects of an investment decision.A few interesting things stood out to me:- 140 miles daily times 13 years is just madness.

Getting a copy of their driver's license might also be a good idea (just take a pic with digital camera).Going through that helps to weed out some of the bad characters ... but not all unfortunately.

I have about 6k saved and I make about 12k a year as a part time pizza driver.

That is county tax as I am not in city limits.That would only add a few hundred more annually if it was so just over 1 percent if city and county.Some states have no income tax but the property tax is very high so you have to calculate quality of the area, rent growth, and economic drivers to see If paying high taxes to own or invest there makes sense.

That's the biggest mistake investors make, if you can justify your offer then sellers or brokers can't get mad at you.

Instead if you have mad money to throw 5% of your worth at it and see what happens then no big deal if the area goes belly up.

They have so many other truck drivers they have to worry about.