You want lower land cost with high rental demand unless you're a reno expert and flipper which not 1% of real investors are. 

However, I had to subordinate the sellers note to 2nd position (hint: set up that language in advance to streamline the process, if that's the direction you're going to go).Since the ARV was high enough, and the potential income would support the mortgage and expenses, it all worked out. 

I mean I highly doubt( but sure there will be other who say otherwise just because) you will find a very good investment property listed on MLS or other publically available service.On a side note if I did have aprroximatley 400k equity in two of my homes could I use any of that to invest in another property?

The seller said this is in a gentrified area so there's potential to rehab this effectively and get a high payout as shown in the last comp.

My husband is a high income W2 earner, and meeting active criteria would put some of our tax dollars back in our pocket.

@Tayvion Payton here's some useful info:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

But presuming you are talking about doing the above, this is a high risk strategy.

Is my thinking correct that homes in highly appreciated areas won't benefit as much from Cost Seg. 

I have done this before and now find the risk just to high.  

I would highly encourage paying a GC to walk deals out the gate, have them give a scope of work so you can see what items costs.