I am worried this opportunity will not be there in a few years as I expect prices to rise rapidly in the area (and they have already begun to).As an aside, would it be out of line to contact other vacation rental owners in the area through AirBNB/VRBO messages to ask them about their experience in the area, double check that their homes cash flow, etc? 

If you are selling a new home that is depreciating fairly rapidly, you may want to get out soon.

Property values are increasing very rapidly right now.

It has good schools, didn’t flood and city growing rapidly so all the reasons we picked it would probably be attractive to future renters right!?

Earlier this year started looking into investing passively in real estate, with the primary goal of diversifying 5-10% of the investment portfolio from stocks to real estate in 2019, aiming to settle at 20% real estate weight in 2-3 years.

Its a Valid question but I have come to realize that it carries perhaps to much weight in the eyes of the majority of investors. 

The goal of losing weight was a failure however.

Definitely have to put a lot of weight in the pre-approval process.

You wouldn't want to buy into an area that is declining rapidly and where the tenant quality is decreasing along with the area.

It will have no weight on how a 2 unit is appraised.