For investment real estate, besides the quality of real estate itself, such as location, construction, layout etc, liquidity is the key. 

They are somewhat liquid for a year unless you sell the lien so your money will by tied up for a year. 

I occupied one unit, which for accounting purposes owner occupied, and the other two rentals, where I depreciate and deduct expenses, and on the schedule E.

You want to make sure that you are investing in a growing area within a growing MSA, because growth within MSAs can also vary.Next, I want to make sure that the market is big enough to have enough liquidity, meaning that there are enough transactions going on that you can buy and sell when you want.  

The other thing that I would mention is that every single brokerage that touts training basically teaches you the same stuff...call friends and family, call FSBOs (for sale by owner), and expired leads, etc.

I am only an E-4 in the Navy and I have a car payment along with a few other bills so I really do not have money to throw out.

I have an emailed copy of the executed deed from the law firm, it has been uploaded for e-recording, so I guess it's not technically recorded yet.

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The amount of liquidity you would need depends on your price point.

If the specific neighborhood isn't the issue and it's just timing then remember to make your future rental contracts expire outside of the slow period.