Chris Masonwhile i do i agree most of what i thought of off the top of my head is common sense there isn't one solid place or at least one that looks legit online for people looking to invest using military benefits.

I'm wondering how common it is to get rent like this in Jacksonville.

That's valid, and quite common.  

I live in a very rural area north of Asheville, NC which does not have much going on as far as real estate movement so I’m looking at other areas.Asheville is hot right now and has set record sales/prices for 2015.This has put the little inventory that is available out of my price range.Asheville would be my long term goal.According to Zillow (which I’m not sure how accurate it is) market health index for Asheville is 9.4/10.Other areas I’m considering are Greenville, SC (market health index 7.8/10 ) and Johnson City, TN (index of 5.9/10), both with more inventory in my price range.Asheville is 35 minutes from my house, Greenville 2 hours, and Johnson City 1 hour.I have made contact with a realtor in the Greenville area and that area really looks like it has potential.I am a Nurse and my wife is a Physical Therapist so we have W2 income and would not need to live off flipping.I also have 3 days off a week to manage rehabs, plus downtime at work for research/studying markets.

On the note of the "emotional side" of the transaction that is quite common not everyone is approaching the real estate transaction from the standpoint of the buyer/investor most times it is an emotional time either because of death, divorce, attachment etc.

My lease does state that the tenant is responsible for the health of trees and shrubs.  

We've found that HUD estimates tend to be low for repairs especially when considering what kind of quality you really want in the property.You need to factor in any potential CAPEX, maintenance, common area utilities, water & potential reserves (Reserves are really there to cover CAPEX items)

I have heard of people  closing short sales rapidly, however, I think this is not the norm, I think my situation is more common.

No where did I ask for this and more importantly I am being charged for this letter in the summary of charges they provide (25 dollars).Is this common practice?

I have a specific project in mind and would love to find common goals and compare notes if you are interested in this field as well.