I would not recommend to invest in a D area.

Are multi-family rentals a strong investment in the Tampa area compared to condos/apartments?

There are a few options out there, but not many. 

Hi, I am looking to purchase some investment property in Atlanta Suburb area.

Real estate is tangible and given market conditions, your specific area is poised for a significant amount of growth in the future.

Unfortunately there are a ton of asset protection services relying on scare tactic messaging through  social media and the internet which ultimately infiltrates real estate forums such as this leading to confusion and anxiety amongst new investors  and finally the upsell of services that are unnecessary.

If you want to network or ask specific questions about your local market, go to your local real estate forum and connect with investors from your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86-local-real-estate-networking5.

Acquire enough RE that it takes you or your spouse more than 750 hours a year and 1/2 of your time to manage.When you are a material participating RE pro all of your and your spouses’ RE activity becomes active, allowing you to offset RE losses against other active income.One pitfall of a RE Pro spouse if you are full-time W-2.

Being a different type of real estate and nothing like it around I can get realistically $1,500- $1,700 a bed being a different realm of real estate (especially in my area). 

The tax advantages of buying/holding gas stations are pretty great.Many of the components of gas stations including pumps, tanks, external parking areas, and other equipment are classified as either 5 or 15 year property so you can bonus depreciate a lot of it (minus the land value) and get significant deductions in year 1.With the current bonus depreciation rate at 60%, a $1 million gas station acquisition could still lead to $100K+ in year 1 deductions depending on the specifics of your deal.