Shoot me a DM if you want some help with finding a condo or house with a low rate that's on market.

As you can tell marine the appraisal came back 40k low and I was so dumbfounded.  

It was mostly due to my day job income and low cost of living over a long period of time; however, real estate accounts for about 50% of our income through a small portfolio of short, mid, and long term rentals. 

The warm months are now approaching but, for the future, I'd suggest coming in aggressively low during winter months and looking for an 18 month lease to start - that way you'll renew in a better pricing period and see some income while you wait rather than spending three months with none.

note if we sell the primary residence, it is very likely we will not need mortgages to buy smaller rentals as we would use that mostly.Though I take your point on keeping it. our house was a new construction (3 years old) though so possibly low maintenance risk to keep for a rental. 

. - There are very low management costs since the property has long term tenants that take care of their own repairs.

But I do think that the overall quality is very low compared to the rest of the US.

Some will try to low ball you and keep every possible dollar for themselves.

Common sources of such properties include:Foreclosures: Homes that have been repossessed by banks due to non-payment.Distressed Properties: Homes that are in poor condition and need a lot of work.Auctions: Properties sold at auction for below market value.Off-market Deals: Properties that aren't listed on the MLS but are available for sale through direct outreach or networking.The key is to buy a property at a price low enough to ensure that even after renovations, the home will appraise for a higher value.2.

If you are skilled in each of the areas above, and you have enough in reserves to cover the costs of when things do not go as planned, then you can likely attract money from private money lenders who want to get a return on their money and they see lending to you as a low risk way of earning a better return than in the other passive investing options they have.