Now, since I run a turnkey company in Birmingham, I may be biased, but I absolutely think AL is a great market to invest in.

The twist is that they are putting out a bunch of low ball offers to determine sellers' motivation.  

Occupancy has improved a lot since then. 5% actual with 5% economic might be more realistic for 2016. incremental rent growth after the property is stable is 2%I think we can safely assume a 3% growth rate going forward due to high demand and low supply (depends on your area). 

I am hesitant to do any fixing up because I have a very demanding full time job and absolutely no experience with home improvements or even home buying.

Our Vacancy across the state is really low, and in certain cities it's lower than state wide. 

If you're absolutely brand new to investing and looking to just do 1-2 buy-and-hold deals per year, I would develop a relationship with an agent and not get your license yourself.  

Well the site is absolutely terrible.  

They have a philosophy of keeping the dues low and when something big comes up they typically have a special assessment.

@patrick philipWell, if there's no room to negotiate a low price to allow for rehab and then arv, what do you think?

I don't have vacancy rates for Bedford but I'm guessing they're pretty low.