I am posting this question in this forum to get a better understanding of which of the two locations is more profitable for a beginner with low capital as I have heard it's near impossible to buy in DC within an affordable range. 

In my area 1% doesnt cut it because of taxes and insurance, I need to be near 1.5% to make it work.

It has doubled in value (I understand 2010 was near the bottom and a rare opportunity). 

But wouldn’t that tie up our VA loan if we wanted to buy another home near family.

I'm looking for a buy and hold rental property near me.

Im getting tired of constantly having to supply the same documents that I had already sent to the broker because they can't locate it again.Thanks again!

In general this area seems really expensive to insure (every quote I get is around $1/sqft for the year, which is nearly 3x what I pay in California) so I wanted to check with some of you folks. 

This is primarily because I am a buy and hold investor (Cash Flow is King) and damn near nothing cash flows near Austin. 

If you want to stay near the base look at Millington. 

Section 8 is not nearly as complicated as it seems, and is really pretty simple.