I can only speak to Rhode Island but I’ve been successful investing in Providence.Like anywhere, you have to be careful about the area/neighborhood and do your analysis/numbers; I’m sure that’s just as true in Manchester as it is in Providence.While I’ve personally only bought in RI, I do know a few local investors here in RI who have recently bought places in NH to do AirBNB with, citing the much lower cost of purchase/entry as a primary reason.

I'm really just looking for any advice that you may have about entry level positions or certificates that would put me on the right track for getting my real estate journey started.

I would just encourage you to aim a bit higher with your entry cap, perhaps 4.75%+ longterm and 5.25%+ when RBTR.Good luck!

There are a ton of great low barrier to entry first time homebuyer programs out there, as well as down payment assistance programs from cities if you qualify to be able to get into a deal with a very low amount of capital out of pocket.

I have no debt, a high credit score, and a good chunk of cash saved up for a down payment, but I have struggled finding a lender that will lend me enough to buy anything in the area because I still work an entry level freelance job for my main source of income.

I have a very simple case where I have rental property that I have  owned for several years. each year I have submitted a very simple 4562 that shows an entry in PART III line 17 for MACRS deductions for prior assets and then this number is repeated again in PART IV summary line 22.

So, we are exploring smaller size with common area to get their entry level possible. 

In NOVA youd be looking at $1 million as the entry point.

In demand careers with low barrier to entry

For example, Texas has amazing growth opportunities but property tax growth is just unpredictable.California is more or less stable property taxes but entry price points are just too high.