Low vacancy rates equate to high cash flow and ROI on rental properties.Downtown areas (Clifton/OTR/Pendleton/etc.)     

However, recently a good friend of mine from church (who happens to have an extensive experience in RE) offered me to partner up to help me start and without me having to put any money, just asked me to contribute to him by finding a low cost deal, help with the process and he promised me to split profits equally if either selling or holding.

Also my budget is in the low hundreds not thousands per month.  

You could expect rates in the low to mid 7s for a One Time Close Construction Loan.

Outside of hard/private money you might have a tough time financing these due to the low values/loan amounts, especially the second one.

Rising interest rates have hurt everyone’s buying power (except cash buyers obviously), and inventory is locked up because nobody wants to move and give up their historically-low interest rate.

The loan will be in your business name and won't be reported to credit agencies, which is huge.

@Elizabeth RothIf you are looking in Ohio check out the Columbus and Cleveland OH markets they are great for investing in from out of state since they are landlord-friendly, and have a low barrier of entry and cash flow.

Not too low either, you don't want to go with someone who is just focused on price as this is a quality of a not-so-great accountant.

The application includes a background report and credit report.