If I were starting out now, I’d focus on markets that balance affordability with solid rental demand, both for short-term and long-term rentals.

For me, I'd rather have fewer doors owned outright that allow me to achieve my personal financial goals than having a large number of doors fully leveraged with less cash flow per door.What if I can afford more than 25% or even pay for it outright and it cash flows? 

This will have a higher expense buy may very well be worth it for your listings and companies health and growth. 

This Raymond St property caught our attention due to its affordable purchase price and potential for a high return after renovations.

A lot of voucher tenants actually can afford to not live in the worst parts of Baltimore but won't live in the best either. 

But the other side of the coin your expenses go way up when your employer is now not paying you any bene's and you have to pay all your own health retirement self employment tax AMT tax etc etc. trying to do this with max leverage is going to be a long slog to replace a 150 to 200k a year job with bene's.

These are the pros and cons of these markets as I see it: Riverside: Larger units with more bedrooms; I can afford better neighborhood with less crime (50 percentile); properties are less old but ugly. 

If you can't afford to pay what they're worth, just talk to them, and they might put more effort into reducing the deal cost so you can save money in other ways.

Don't forget to add fringe benefits such as health insurance and also payroll taxes, etc. 

Cash for keys is common, and frequently the part that keeps tenants from moving forward is not having an affordable place to go to.