It was a fairly strong smell for many years, but now it is only bad a few times a year.  

Plenty strong enough for residential...should be between 1k to 2k per pier depending on how many you need, access, and other factors.

Finally, there's a strong ethos for living in SFH in my area and a negative connotation with apartment dwelling. 

Many see Pittsburgh PA as a strong cash flow market and it is.

credit unions are usually pretty strong with these as well.

I have seen the Phoenix Units more than double in value and my Peoria units are worth 40 percent more than I paid.I have sold 9 of my Phoenix Units and moved my money to Pittsburgh where I can find CAP rates of 8 percent and where properties have not sky rocketed in price.I have purchased 14 properties (19 units) in Pittsburgh over the past year and my CAP rates and cash flow are much better.I strongly feel it is the wrong time to be buying properties for cash flow in the Phoenix valley.  

If you are a strong negotiator you will get close to what you want to pay or walk away from the deal without giving it a second thought.Spell out on paper why your offer is where it is to soften the blow to the sellers agent.

if your problem is capital and not your DTI. there's really two ways to go about this. 1. simply save. qualifying for a  200k place means you have probably 9-11k saved up for a place including closing costs. so just increase that by 50% and whoop theres a 300k place for you. with some strong saving, you could probably do that in 6-12 months. 2. use gift money from friends and family. you can take these gifts for personal residences.

In most markets that have strong cash flow you should assume no appreciation which is counter to many Canadian markets.It depends on your situation but often Canadians invest using a US LP for both tax and liability reasons but you need someone with knowledge of your specific situation.

I own two duplex properties in Los Angeles, but am looking to get into other markets with lower housing prices but strong rents.