Of course, we always strive for- at minimum - capital preservation, but any substantial appreciation cannot be reliabily predicted in any neighborhood, so it helps to focus on the factors you can get a clear handle on up front.Regarding areas with solid B potential -  Pinson/Trussville are a little more rural but people in AL tend to like being outside the city, so you'll still have plenty of renters.

Outside of real estate investments we are a strict Dave Ramsey no debt household so this decision seems counter intuitive to everything we've worked so hard to accomplish.  

I've looked into splitting the ducting and plumbing for an additional furnace and hot water heater, but the estimates for that were far outside of my budget.My two options are to either include the gas in the monthly rent by adjusting it accordingly, or to split the bill each month between the two tenants.

I've looked into splitting the ducting and plumbing for an additional furnace and hot water heater, but the estimates for that were far outside of my budget.My two options are to either include the gas in the monthly rent by adjusting it accordingly, or to split the bill each month between the two tenants.

After you do that you would have 70K in your exchange account and a note outside your exchange account for $35K that you just paid $35K for.  

I have been staring at Zillow all day looking for something that doesn't seem to exist as far as a moderately priced multi/single starter property in good shape(heh), have spoken with a couple lenders for pre-approval and had agents circling my house waiting for me to come outside.....hehe.I decided to take a look at a property tomorrow(single family) but nothing serious yet being as I am very new to this.

Hi Robert.I was born and raised in and right outside NYC.

I have an entrepreneurial spirit and like to think outside the box and problems solve.

I have properties outside the city with a 8-12 cap rate.

I walked the outside of the outdated property and snapped some pics, rolled some numbers in my head around:Mid-range ARV around 400knew doors and windows throughout, 15k including entries for good stuff (I know that's high, better to err on the side of caution)fresh paint in/out at $5 per sf for good stuff, call it 9kflooring throughout, 6.2k at $3.50 a sf2 bathrooms, 15k kitchen 20k including appliancesso about 55-60, plus some extra for unforseen and pool, so 65-70k, leaving me an offer of 200-230ishI'm sitting in this driveway for a solid 45 minutes taking notes, running numbers, pulling title info & last sale price/date (Chicago Title mobile app), etc.