In other details that might be important, homes are cheaper here in east TN than most places so finding foreclosures from 30-70,000 that are valued at 100-150,000 seems to be pretty common and they're nice houses (not in bad neighborhoods or anything).

If there are plenty of properties at the price point in your neighborhood, you'll want a good lender you can work with long-term.Mike

there are some REALLY nice neighborhoods!!

I can help you with insights into these neighborhoods as well as run CMA's for you on both properties.

@Sam Albert - welcome (in advance) to the neighborhood.

If I got with the rental property, what thoughts do you have about how to determine if a neighborhood is going to rise or sink over time, and how to safeguard my investment?

Hopefully you have already ran the the comps on the neighborhood so you have an "idea" of what's the market value.

Id like to stay where its a bit warmer (than ND) but that's about it.My first plan was to go to Jackson ms, the amount of extremely cheap houses was enticing and I was strongly considering this for quite some time, I talked to 3 separate Realtors that were of no help as far as getting neighborhood information.

They are right next to each other in a great neighborhood.

Unfortunately, most places we invest have HOAs, but we try to stick to the ones that are just minimal (maintaining neighborhood entrances, street lighting, and roads).