Personally I love the strong economics of this area.

I.e. those that send one final bill, that's it, also have experience I want, strong references, maintain licenses and pull permits, know their skill sets and can manage subs, their own schedules, etc.

We travel regularly to visit the properties but I believe that is very important in maintaining a strong asset. 

And maybe to my own naive experience, I’m trying not to use a realtor in an effort to get a better price due to the strong market.

With $100K to work with, you can buy 3 properties in an affordable market like Indianapolis and Kansas City which are both strong cash flow markets.

Sounds like you are on your way to building a strong portfolio!

If you plan to hold and rent this house for a while, I strongly suggest you personally/safely inspect the crawl space with an experienced foundation contractor or (better yet) an engineer. 

I would strongly encourage you to attend the BARE Investors meetup - Bad *** Real Estate.

@Chris Shue all 3 are strong points, good luck!!

Also, look for markets that have experienced strong job and population growth in the recent past.