Best Sellers to TargetThis will make deals more difficult to come by however, since many sellers may opt to wait until interest rates decrease and cap rates follow suit in the coming years to get a higher price on their properties if they are not being forced to sell at this time.

Surprisingly, these homes that once sold for $7,000 are now selling for close to $1,000,000 and it doesn't seem as though the rate of appreciations is decreasing anytime soon. 

I look for cashflow to service the debt, repairs, cap ex, taxes, and insurance while the equity grows, my taxes are decreased, and rents are increased to make more cashflow. 

Alas, this scenario didn't last very long, as you would expect in a free market capitalist society -- new money flood in, more STRs in supply, property prices increase, STR incomes decrease, until a new equilibrium is achieved.Nowadays, the word STR is being used to describe both the property and the business.

I'm definitely still looking at it, but one concern is the population growth, it seems to be decreasing slightly? 

On paper the cheap houses look great, but the reality is they are harder to manage, have higher turn over and cost a lot more time and money.Buying before you retire is a good idea because once you retire, your ability to borrow money is going to decrease as you don't have a regular income from a job.As you want to fix houses up, why not buy a house that needs a bit of work, live in it while doing the renos and then move when you sell it. 

Yes  I think the best move here is to asses your total monthly debt and see if a cash out refi will help decrease the total interest and monthly debt obligation.

And lastly, I search FunishedFinder listings nearby, find comparable properties, and track the listed rent for a few months (does it increase, decrease?).

You can find higher ROI (on paper) here and probably in other cities…but the probability of actually collecting rent significantly decreases.

And not filing reports for slashed tired is lazy and it also decreases the crime stats for the area.