My goal is to excel in the rental property segment utilizing a buy and hold strategy.

@Erik Rouleau Buy and Hold is a straight forward strategy anywhere :)Which population segment are you targeting? 

One particular real estate segment that I think will probably suffer a disproportionate hit however would be the commercial retail market.

People did not have jobs all of a sudden, and with no work there was no way to get any rents at all.I understand this is an extreme situation, and is only likely in small segments of the county.  

I don't recommend getting only Absentee owners because they are getting a lot of offers to buy their property from all the other investors.There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance.

I would, if so I would back out the cost of capital as thought I am getting it from another person (interest and points) because of the risk in this market segment I would assume a profit of 1/2 of your proposed profit and if you would still do it for that I would do the deal from a financial point of view, but I would never personally do the deal as I am not comfortable in that market.

You just need to be sure to get a good list - which is where a list broker comes in.There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance.

Therefore, only luxury properties are being built (cutting out a major segment of the buyers out there). 

A List Broker can offer suggestions to optimize a list for your area, including some of the newer motivated owner occupied segments to mix. in This can be good since as @Brian Midden says, in most markets  Absentee Owners are getting a lot of offers.You might be able to get better pricing than with ListSouce

If just starting, you will want to go if possible with the smaller two segments.