It makes me cringe when investors think that DSCR means they're getting a nonrecourse loan with 100% LTV and cheaper than Conventional (speaking generally here, not referring to OP).

Also to your point about D vs A - I think that your turnover costs would be cheaper for an a class property that a D class.

I am considering buying a house in another state that is cheaper than my market to rent out.

It's much cheaper than LA County, and I've seen some good opportunities come through the office.

You can get software built cheaper overseas initially but it is often junk and you still end up paying the same from all the ongoing fixes and have less adopters use the software because of the initial problems.

The issue I found when visiting these places is that the nicer suburbs are not much cheaper than some of the cheaper areas of California (many single families are in the high $200,000's/low $300,000's so the draw is not as enticing if I can purchase something in my state for a similar price). 

Real estate is an excellent way to leverage deductions and reduce taxable income.

Northwest Indiana is roughly 30 minutes outside of Chicago and has seen a lot of growth recently with several IL residents moving over for cheaper housing and taxes.

Granted I understand your thoughts about curb appeal, but it may be cheaper/better to go trim first and then evaluate.

Seems like all 3 markets are competitive, with Louisville being slightly cheaper than the other 2 markets I mentioned.