This is upside down, how can lenders sustain this?

I currently own a small business and it's becoming self-sustaining so I'm looking to become a full-time investor. 

what kind of areas would a 15k house be in.. how is that a sustainable and safe investmentfor a buy and hold out of area investor. or for that matter any investor who is not a Hands on Investor that owns and self manages that type of housing as their day job.Also I suspect the company selling those at those prices are making a profit.. that stands to reason so I suspect you can find the same quality assets in those areas for under 10k.. but again WHY  @Joe Villeneuve    Joe is born and raised in the area and he deals with rental houses..

Ideally, you will find a property that is self sustainable, but a househack is slightly different since you goal is to reduce your own cost of living as much as possible for the area you want to live in.From there, do you want to be doing rehab or turnkey? 

This area has sustained 2 major wildfires in the last decade or so, so we're rebuilding lost inventory at a rapid rate.

Your philosophies resonate with me entirely.

As they say, follow the jobs.You can go to the bureau of labor and statistics and look at job growth by city and then narrow down the region and cities that you want.Another thing to think about is are the jobs being created sustainable jobs?

If you want to get into flipping, finding deals based on needing to live in it isnt a sustainable model.5.

But a sustained, large decrease in rental rates of 25-30%+ would most likely cause me to change my personal spending habits and hoard all the cash I can.

And remember that is a guideline but it should tell you the ballpark of where you need to be if you really plan on creating a sustainable business in RE.One final note: you mentioned that your uncle flips properties.