I've done a couple market tours (currently living in Raleigh) and have a general sense for the area, but don't have in depth knowledge of the areas to go to vs stay away from. 

So you may just save up for the make-ready and hope they end up staying longer.  

I then stay in touch and if things work out where they invest, great, if not, that's fine too.

Like most have said the schooling just teaches you how to stay out of jail.

Stay with it.

It's a great place to start.Best to you and stay encouraged!

@Terre Oswald in your search you don't have to stay in your backyard.  1031 is a federal statute that all 50 states recognize at the federal level. 

But if you're just starting out and you don't have that, my recommendation would be to stay local.You will find it difficult to find a single family home in Rhode Island within the 80-120k range, unless you are willing to live in a very tough area and/or buy a house that needs a lot of work.

My wife is a nurse at UMC. 3 different coworkers have moved to Florida and back after staying less than 2 years.

I just saved you 15 grand . ..Now that you got that out of the way ,you can stay on this site and learn the other 99% of real estate investing for free