The area around the airport is a great place to be looking for rental properties, but keep in mind that Duplexes are not common in the Baltimore region (at least not duplexes where both units are on a single deed).  

I sell homes from Winston to Salem and coastal regions too.

Generally smaller local banks are going to be a better bet for financing than larger regional or national lenders.

I agree this needs to be broken down by region, property type, coverage, etc. 

Assuming appreciation will bump the value up in x amount of years is speculation that takes you out of control of your investment and leaves you vulnerable to get burned. 

However the opportunity to build an expertise in a regional/niche real estate opportunity is greater and more likely for an individual investor, vs. building an expertise in investing in most any class sector or individual stock without insider info.

Must be a very recent, or perhaps regional, policy shift as we have 5-6 unit properties under residential financing with CIBC and RBC  

Find a local mortgage broker or a regional or small community bank. 

Montgomery county is another region I thought about investing in but finding a distressed home in this area will be hard. 

We are interested in the Mobile Home Park space and have been looking in Texas and the Sunbelt region.