Most think they are sitting on a ton of equity but its a farce. 

Specifically, I'm thinking about getting properties which ideally satisfy the 2% rule or at least are significantly above the 1% rule (ratio of monthly rent to purchase price + renovation cost).Given these goals and the fact that my constraints, I have the following questions:a) Which markets are best to look at ?

If you have little to no PM experience, then you're better off hiring a professional PMC.EVERYONE thinks it's easy to DIY property manage - until something goes wrong and you have no clue what to do!

Thinking a townhome with atleast 2 bed and no more than 3 bed with 2- 2.5 bath.So, with these factors is RTP area work?

We usually go with a cabinet specific company that also installs, I think it's probably a bit cheaper than home depot lowe's, but I don't think either option is bad. 

I like to think of each month a few hundreds from each property goes into a little piggyback called my equity.

I think a homeowner can generally do fine with just a real estate agent but I'd agree when homeowners try to FSBO it rarely goes well. 

However, I do think it is very important to build a team with boots on the ground first, as there are areas you will want to stay away from.

House was built in 1995 so I am thinking that I will need a roof for it soon and central heating/cooling is six years old.

Please see this response in the best of light.While, I will take the feedback in your message that I think is helpful, I find it difficult to take the whole thing seriously (but noting that there are some good pieces of feedback in your reply for sure).