This is primarily because the franchisor are able to negotiate lower or below market lease rates due to their guarantees and credit rating.

:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+, zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680, some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

I will be putting anywhere from 3.5%-5% down on the property so with that in mind, would y'all recommend starting with a Multi Family and reduce my living expense or with the SFH and not cash flow until year 2 when I am out of the property? 

I'm a resident of the lower Hudson Valley and have not had the chance to explore that area up there but it seems like its close to a number of nice towns like Chatham, NY and the Berkshires within 15 min, outdoor activities also abound in all seasons.

You could have higher rents and lower values.

And there are sub $100K houses and million dollar houses within twenty minutes of each other, but the market here is generally known on BP for the lower end.And to Allen's original point, while there is plenty of out of state attention, especially the lower you go on the price spectrum, there are plenty of people making money investing in this market (though they may not be chasing bottom dollar properties, shooting for the highest paper return possible).

He's licensed so he's not the cheapest and not the most expensive but we've found him to be dependable and do quality work so we always recommend his team. 

There is some very low priced real estate in Akron but the housing Demand is a little lower than rival markets.

I have 12-doors and I'm closing on a new duplex next month.Ultimately, the market you choose will depend on your goals.Looking for cash flow and lower entry price points?

But we basically followed David Greene's advice for finding a realtor in Long-Distance Real Estate Investing.Here's a summary of what we were looking for:* An agent who has experience being a landlord/investor and so already shares our perspective (looks for opportunity rather than curb appeal)* An agent who knows the Alexandria area well* An agent who doesn't mind showing us many houses and writing a bunch of lower offers* An agent who doesn't mind sharing their opinion about a property being wrong for us so we can move on to the next oneThere are many great meetups here.