It's a great place to start.Best to you and stay encouraged!

@Terre Oswald in your search you don't have to stay in your backyard.  1031 is a federal statute that all 50 states recognize at the federal level. 

But if you're just starting out and you don't have that, my recommendation would be to stay local.You will find it difficult to find a single family home in Rhode Island within the 80-120k range, unless you are willing to live in a very tough area and/or buy a house that needs a lot of work.

My wife is a nurse at UMC. 3 different coworkers have moved to Florida and back after staying less than 2 years.

I just saved you 15 grand . ..Now that you got that out of the way ,you can stay on this site and learn the other 99% of real estate investing for free

I had a tenant that was moving out due to family illnesses, but a sudden change in things in life and they asked to stay another year.

If you are not planning on staying in Seattle, you should look into the option in the area you want to move to. 

I'd stay out of Shorline bc the houses/neighborhoods aren't much to look at and the traffic to/fro is often a nightmare (we call it Canada).

Unless you are an experienced sponsor/investor then I would stay away from this one.

I stay away from that area because I do not believe the population growth or job growth will support all of that development long term.