My wife and I live in Laramie as well and have similar desires of getting in to the mulit-unit game.  

It seems to be a desirable path, especially with long-term loan rates being 3-4%, and with the inflation of the dollar it seems like a good idea to take on fixed, manageable debt..Anyway, I have about $15k in cash saved and would like to travel and look up different cities that seem to have a healthy pulse to them, currently looking at Indianapolis as an example.

Can be in less desirable areas such as industrial or warehouse districts.This is a decent example of what I have in mind: http://deepellumss.com/Should I contact owners directly if I see a place I like? 

@Marcus ColemanFor some of the nicer, apartments in desirable neighborhoods, there are Koreans who will put up to 450,000,000 KRW down - that's about $450,000.

Also, the desirable neighborhoods and/or communities we were desiring because we were going to be "House Hacking", the properties were over priced.

I actually hadn't thought about doing an option with a "purchase window" that covers his desired closing date.

How hard were the more desirable areas hit?

The house we found was in a desirable neigborhood and was listed for 280k paying my closing costs. 

I didn't mention that, to accommodate the tenant's desire to move in earlier than the "ready date" posted, some of the interior was not completed (only basic floors and ceilings) when they moved big piles of their items into the centers of each room, which allowed completion of the walls, moldings, paint, trim, doors, light fixtures, switches, receptacles, cover plates, etc.

The path you laid out with regards to NOT being an owner/operator is exactly the direction I desire and plan to go.