Sounds like you've stumbled onto a tremendous investment opportunity, if you're willing to take on the rehab risk you mention above.

As Jonathan mentioned it can be done, but they may require an appraisal of the property. 

Pull out a spreadsheet and go through the tools everyone mentions to run some comparables and take note of photos, amenities. 

Thanks in advance,RookieOf the areas you mentioned, Id put Germantown at the top of the list.

Quote from @Jack Townsend: I heard David Greene mention a loan product that only requires a 10% down payment on the purchase price and 10% of the rehab budget.

.: In a prior post from about 2 months ago, Kerry Malarkey and Nathan Gesner mentioned a small landlord is exempt from FHA requirements requiring the acceptance of emotional support & assistance animals if one of the following is true:"Owner-occupied buildings Properties with four units or fewer that are owned and lived in by the ownerSingle-family homes Homes that are sold or rented without a broker by the owner, as long as the owner doesn't own more than three at once" (Quote from Nathan's reply))https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1219359-pitbu...Given this, if a landlord does qualify for the exemption, what exactly does this mean? 

Go to one of the REI bibles and get really solid on the basics so that your foundation is solid and you purchase well.  

As Alex mentioned (thanks Alex), I run the Santa Barbara meetup.

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.

He does not mention any downside to reverting to an executory contract/ lease option/ land contract.