I'm fortunate to currently have very cheap rent.

They are used for the Elevator and the pool area, so they aren't your typical cheap key sets...

Start cheap and easy, somewhere that you know and can access.

I want you to keep a few things in mind when you read what I'm about to say: 1) Not even 2 years ago I was as fresh as you are in the game.2) I am a very cheap person when it comes to my own "doo-dads" and things I don't need...but I am not cheap when it comes to wealth building and investing in income producing assets.3) While I am still fresh compared to most, I have sec 8 rentals that have been with PM from day 1.With that being said, I'm going to give it to you straight: Everyone has their own team that works for them and that is fine, but I personally have never seemed to mesh with a RE agent when it comes to rental comps.

All my investors love the Springs, they find that cheap price points, great views, and population increase is great reasons for investing down there.

or is that too cheap?

-Move money to stocks - relatively cheap now-Financing balloon (they either need a new loan or have to sell - and a new loan may not be practical)-Upgrade - perhaps they've gained some equity recently and they want to redeploy that capital to a larger building and take advantage of the economies of scale

If you're going to look into Cleveland, you'll want to read The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.While it's true you can make a ton of money in Cleveland (I've done it) you can also lose your shirt (I've done that too, literally) Cleveland can be a mine field, so make sure you understand what's what before you buy a cheap house off of Zillow or something like that.

@Nate Wiger When we purchased, it was during the pandemic, so rates were dirt cheap.

I have a big chunk of cash saved that I need to put to use, but I'm having trouble determining the value of a new build vs a more traditional deal just buying a rental and rehabbing.I've been presented with an opportunity from a builder to build a new duplex in an area which can be used as short-term or long-term rentals in Knoxville, TN.The builder is a rare combination of fast, cheap, AND quality, and has written a "cost-not-to-exceed" clause into the building, so it's an extremely competitive build cost (details below).The deal would cash flow very nicely, but it would force me to leave a chunk of cash into the property.Here are the numbers:duplex: each unit 2:2, 900 sq ftTotal cost of land, 1.2 acres (This is already leveled, excavated, and prepped for building): $80kMaximum build cost: $252kTotal cost: $332kCash in: $67,000ARV: $350kApprox cash flow: $800-1,100So, again, how does this compare to a typical buy/rehab?