I'd love to hear any perspectives on how the strategy works in the area and would appreciate any guidance on good neighborhoods / towns / areas to take a look at or ones to be cautious of.

The wonderful thing about owning an investment property are the options/strategies to consider in a situation like yours.

I would advise as others have here, and strongly suggest the house hack strategy to start with!

Then I would identify some possible investment strategies such as : Buy & hold long term rentals, Short term rentals, BRRRRR, Fix & flip, etc and see which one(s) might fit my goals and situation best and why. 

Austin Rent rates also down 6% per Yardi-Matrix data, from 1 yr ago.

Seems a lot of diff factors that affect any holding strategy up there so we are leaning more on the fix n flip side first, then we’ll look into STRs as we learn more about the area!

Starting with BRRRR in Detroit sounds like a solid strategy, especially with your goal to recycle capital.

I would love to show you different creative financing strategies that I have used to win offers and help my investors grow their portfolios.

Investing in Section 8 rentals is a solid strategy and I would recommend it.

And you are right, it is a big risk betting on the appreciation.Our strategy to wait to buy the bigger house originated from the multiple factors (interest rates, inflated prices, no need for moving just for elementary school and unstable professional life).