Do you need cashflow now or you looking for this more down the road as properties appreciate and increase in value.If you are not needing cashflow now and it's more an appreciation play of having when you retire then you have one strategy.

I'm brand new to real estate investing.

Just playing devil's advocate and I'm a fan of living as close to work as humanly possible so you can bike/ walk. 

With proximity to the Freeway, University Of Washington - Tacoma, and Downtown (which has over $1Bn of projects permitted for the next 5 years - including a Grocery Anchored Retail center) If you can find a value add play in Hilltop I wouldn't sleep on it.

The loan is kind of like buying salt or sugar; they are just commodities and brand name doesn't make much difference.

Clarksville area seems to be great for longer-term plays right now just because you can acquire for so cheap, but for the flips you may want to consider moving closer to the city. 

Obviously run the numbers on the whole package and each individually, but sliding the purchase prices around on a few to play with LTV on financed properties would let you stretch your capital and pre-approved amount further.

I have been pivoting from value to cash flow plays (while always adding value).If we are not selling properties, it is the same as buying them at today's prices (excluding the impact of mortgage rate changes). 

From my prospective, economy of scale plays a huge role in my decision making and hence I chose commercial real estate (for example, multifamily versus single family).

Maybe if you had some kind of value ad play... but buying brand new and hoping values and rents go up in the Bay Area seems like a bad strategy to me.