@Lance Peterson Yes, I just made one closet a keyed entry and then left most of my valuable stuff in there.

Former ATLiens, but we've been living in Seattle for the past 10 years.All kinds of life events are pointing us back home, and we plan on being out there in two years or so.What we'd like to do is kick start our investing endeavors out there in advance of our arrival . . .We decided we'd like to buy, rehab (and either refinance to rent or just sell).So we watched a million podcasts, read books, did mock deal analysis, and have already automated some of the deal vetting process to make an offer.Comfortable with that, we pulled some cash and got a HELOC to serve as our own personal private money lender until that runs out, we can handle a few deals at a time, IF we could find them.Lately, we're really liking Pittsburg, Mechanicsville, all the way over to English Avenue, for a multitude of reasons:The cost of entry is relatively cheap thereWe're not first movers so we have watched before/afters on properties in these areas for a year or so and it seems doableI went to Georgia Tech, that area has always been near to my heart, sketchy or notHistoric civil rights area, I'd personally have some pride in making that more accessible I'd not mind moving my family into some of these areas when we leave SeattleWhat we are finding is most homes are going over asking and even then our offers are getting rejected. 

And you have enough of a down payment that will cover cost of entry and rehab as long as you keep it in the price range you mentioned. 

This comes out to 2700, and the deal looks pretty good at that mark, knowing the entry point of 160k.

It definitely lowers the barrier to entry but on the other hand it makes research a lot easier.

@Ricky Jefferson, NEXT time, we expect a more researched, success story about your re-entry into Real Estate...

Economically, they make a lot of sense given the higher comps and cash flow I can pull vs. an annual lease.I also believe that a lot of the day-to-day can be automated (i.e. listing the property, booking it, keypad lock entry, having it turned over for the next rental.)QUESTION - If anyone has a short-term rental, I'm curious to know if they are more or less difficult to manage?

I also agree that SFR are hard to scale at a certain point, but their cheap pricing entry makes them a good start for a new investor.

Keep in mind, wholesaling is normally the entry level real estate investment model.

There are low barriers to entry areas in PA, which includes Delaware, Chester and Luzerne counties.