But, then you say find cities with zero 3/2 properties for rent under $1,000 and preferably no properties under $1100.Would that advice not preclude an investor from investing in any major city in the country if they are searching on Zillow?   

I expected it to be no more than 9 however, I experienced a major delay in getting my custom windows (loss of 6 weeks) plus utility delays and a few minor weather delays (we don't get much of that here in sunny So CAL!).

you get out of the major metro areas and Oregon economy is pretty poor by and large.. its roaring in the metro areas..you could look at Eugene and Roseburg as well.. 

I had a 5 unit on month to month and after a major costly repair (water issue) 4 of 5 units gave notice in December so I had to accept much lower rent to fill the 4 units.

Further, the vast majority of cases do not have DNA or forsneics.

You're going to find those on public records when you look online, perhaps in the records of the houses with the high grass.

I don’t want to buy my first property only to find out some major expense pops up and I don’t have the savings to cover it.

However, I still would do a complete analysis of the life expectancy of all your major components and appliances. 

I am actively looking for a great place to take the required 90 hours of online or in person classes and to then take the real estate exam.

A major snag in moving forward that I’ve experienced is not having the money for a 20% down payment for a traditional bank loan.