I also notice that @Gregory Schwartz mentioned Huntsville in particular—I definitely think that it’s a strong market for long-term appreciation.As for your concerns about investing out of state, I think an investment strategy that is as close to passive as possible would be best.A do-it-yourself approach—where you acquire a property, place a tenant, interview a bunch of property managers, and handle maintenance yourself—is going to be pretty tough to do remotely.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

While the traditional approach involves buying a multi family property, living in one unit and renting out the other - with rising prices and interest rates; others have considered renting out bedrooms as unit spaces. 

- Any lessons learned or best practices you’d recommend for someone leaning toward this approach?

I have a buddy that has been doing flips for a few years and he now has investors approach him asking to get in on his flips so he lets them cover the down payment/entry fee's for 30% return on their money.

The sales comparison approach is typically done for residential real estate and will be less appropriate and come in under value because there are no good comps, and even an appraisal using the income approach (unless the appraiser is trained to do more complex commercial appraisals) is probably not going to be the most accurate either because they typically use market cap rates and in this case you don’t have good comparable income properties to find the market cap for the analysis.  

I know they’re an essential tool for analyzing a property’s financial performance, but I want to ensure I’m approaching them correctly.Could anyone share examples of what a good T-12 looks like or highlight key items I should make sure are always included?

OP look at your buy box, REI strategy and approach. 

I believe this approach provides the best cash-on-cash return when starting out.I began investing in Columbus in 2017, and I've engaged in both BRRRR strategies and turnkey investments.

It’s definitely never too late to start, and learning by doing is often the best approach.