@Seth Nightengale I think you have to evaluate what you view as a comfortable safety net/emergency fund for your family.

There are specific regions of the country I'm eyeballing, but they are broad swaths (PacWest, Great Lakes, etc.).I need to narrow it down to specific cities.What are your tips for how to evaluate, from afar, the right OOS cities for investment?

Your realtor can log into their bidding functions and see 1st thing in the morning wether they accept, cancel, or counter offer.

Your comment above suggests to me you don’t yet understand how to evaluate a property, Adam.

SO currently me and my father have been looking at putting our cash together and purchase a log cabin in Gatlinburg for a vacation rental.

Southern IL has a lot of markets where more traditional housing competes with the affordable model, which is not ideal.Next, anyone looking to help you out here will need a tad more information to assist you in an evaluation.  

@Nicholas Broussard There is a structure known as a "Rollover as Business Startup" you could evaluate.  

It’s also important for evaluating your list and/or your list provider.

That way they have the info to evaluate if it meets their needs.

There have been many forum posts here on BP about Gurus in this business, evaluating their performance, etc.