I highly encourage you to contact a local Keller Williams Office for further advice if seriously interested!  

As a real estate broker in New York (where inventory moves quickly and it is difficult to buy at steep discounts), most times it is not worth it to go around putting in lowball offers for my clients mainly because the market moves quickly and also because it wastes everyone's time.   

You pay a local licensed contractor wIth a good reputatIon to accompany you for a second look .have him look over all the structure and systems etc.. have him do quick quotes on issues he sees on a legal pad as he’s walking through each room have him check the wiring the roof the furnace the plumbing .

Last thought as a quick reference in your searchClass A- place where you hope to liveClass B- place where you would be ok livingClass C- Only living there if times were really roughClass D- hell no, I'm sleeping in my carClass F- i might as well be dead.   

Here are my quick numbers on the deal:$1,600 gross rent-$570 ish for mortgage-$160 for management (10%)-$128 for maintenance (8%)-$128 for CAPEX (8%)-$128 for Vacancy (8%)=$486 month or $5,832 a year (12.9% CoC)Then you still need to budget for Taxes & Insurance, this would drive down your return further.

Present them with some deals and you'll quickly find out what they are and aren't comfortable with.My foreign investor clients are looking primarily for preservation of capital.

It's popular in certain ways because it's somewhat more affordable than 37206.Depending on what you do and how nice you make your renovation, you should be able to sell it pretty quickly if it's priced right. 

I keep seeing podcasts/videos about scaling quickly, buying 5 units in one year, but don't see what the path to that is, or how they got the loans.

Real estate is also a game of survival and its more important you are in the game year in and year out than to get wiped out rather quickly.

Keep your eyes open for properties that need a lot of work and offer to list it, or to give them a quick cash offer yourself to save them time and commissions.