Phoenix is extremely competitive, but that's because it's a hot market with a lot of deals.I would figure out which area fits your budget/lifestyle the best and go from there.I moved to Phoenix a little over a year ago from the Bay Area and I'll never look back personally.

This is extremely helpful @Jeff Brower Thank you!

Unless you can entice feedback by offering some value to them, I'll be honest... you won't get much feedback. 

To be honest I've been in columbus and done 200+ transactions and we've never had one property come up as in the flood zone.

The problem is I live in Hawaii and houses here a extremely expensive.

If I were going to have someone else manage them B or C class (think blue collar, and maybe lower blue collar) would be fine.What I would suggest is make sure you get good enough deals where, if you decide in a year or two that this just isn't for you, you can sell the properties and not lose any money after all closing costs.As for books, honestly I find BP and simply networking with local investors more helpful. 

A cap rate of 22% would mean it was an extremely risky deal

Any ideas or insight you might have would be extremely helpful.  

Terrible Setbacks No Longer an IssueA big obstacle that so many homeowners face is the extremely strict setback requirements.

Be honest with yourself about the condition of each house and how they are priced.