I ranked them in a tie for third place with two other sites.On the downside: their minimums are very high. $50,000 versus an average of $10,000.

As someone with strong ties to both of those cities I think you could do well in either market.

You need to make the effort of underwriting & registering the mortgage and tying up your capital is suitably compensated.

Don't buy a foreclosed/REO property and state that you are an owner occupant when you are an investor.On properties with ties to the Federal government, like HUDs, VAs, Fannies, Freddies, USDA, etc, it is a Federal felony subject to 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.Don't do the crime unless you can do the time... and I haven't the repo worth that time.

After you have that tied down and supporting your living expenses then add the other one. 

An active business such as flipping properties is.As such, you could tie the Solo 401k to the S-Corp you use for flipping and that would allow you to set aside some of the earnings from flipping into the plan - thereby reducing your taxable income and helping you save for retirement.  

I highly recommend this happen because it keeps the bad tenant tied to the previous owner.

@Mike Koebke  If I were in your shoes I would be looking for an apartment building in the $1.2M range.  

Talk with the neighbors to find out what they may know.We got a great deal on a house that was tied up in an estate.

The problem is that the seller is attempting to sell a property quickly, for his own reasons, but the buyer is not an end buyer but a wholesaler attempting to tie up the property by putting it under contract.There is nothing wrong that.