Is the property zoned for a duplex, if not you will need a variance from city hall with is another headache.Also, you do not want to make tenants live thru a large renovation as you mentioned. 

I dont know of any specific local meet ups for OOS investing but there are a lot of different REI meet ups in the city.

Hi There, I am looking to purchase my first rental investment property, and I have found this great property in Jersey city, however, i am tempt to submit an offer without understanding ahead of time if the builidng have any open liens or violations. 

@Mikal Lewis i would google (your city name) reia meet ups.

I live in Auburn Alabama and the market here is pretty crazy so I have been looking at surrounding cities like Montgomery and Birmingham that are bigger and more affordable.I know that the typical down payment someone’s needs for commercial is 25% so short of me getting seller financing, or a partner, or some other creative finance path my purchase power leads me towards properties that are typically in lower income areas- at least for the ones I’ve spotted. (200K ish) I’ve listened to pretty much every podcast multiple times and often hear people saying that when they begin they focus more on cash flow and as they grow they look more towards appreciation opportunities.

Depends on where you are in the city and what size multi-family you're looking for.

If vacancy rates doubled in your city, could you survive? 

Are there any specific primary residence loan programs that you are seeing in the Baltimore City area?

Cleveland Heights is one of the slowest cities around here.

The City keeps changing the rules and none of us know where it is all going to end up.