Also, he wants to know I have all the financing in place before he'll check on the current upkeep of the property (i.e. roof, hot water heater, etc.).

It's inexpensive and You'll meet lots of great like minded people there.

Anish,Investing 600K to get $100 cash flow doesn't sound to me like a good plan :)I think you can invest it much more efficient if you just look out of state.It will give you a much better price to rent ratio, plus in many states, laws are landlord friendly and not tenants friendly as in CA.If you want to learn more about out of state investments please feel free to check this meet up group:meetup.com/Los-Gatos-Real-Estate-Networking-Meetup/

Our next meeting will host the one and only John Schaub.

Norwood itself would also be good to consider as there is some variety of neighborhoods and buildings that that should meet your price point requirements.  

Operating expenses are very low because I use gas dryers (instead of electric), tankless water heaters for hot water, and high efficiency, front load washers to save water.  

The way I see it is if the property taxes are so high to keep from getting ahead with your rental it doesn't pay much to keep it or look at that area to buy.We had a inner city 6 plex,, our taxes jumped from 5400 a year to 6800 ... on a 6 unit building this was after we had contested the tax hike that's 133.00 per apt per year or 95.00 bucks a month just for taxes.per unit.. we contested the increase hired a appraiser had a meet and look at with the city appraiser.. it knocked it down for a while but went right back up a year later.. 

And that "more to the story" is where the rubber, inevitably, meets the road...

I have heard that Nashville is hot!  

I'll take a look there and see if I can start meeting people in my area.