Places with SFH home values of 200k or less that have had factory jobs shipped overseas, or have been too rural to consider settling in. 

Others may need to be creative, you just need to make sure you hit a simple savings rate and invest competently. i appreciate the advice. my plan is to be saving about 75k/year while I'm paying off student loans and then jump up to about 125-135k/yr once loans are paid off. since my most immediate term goal is to reach partial FI (have the FI to work part time) I see REI as a means via cash flow.the other complicating factor is I think the financial prospects for my field are quite bearish and anticipate a decline in salary in the long term due to: -decreased reimbursement from medicare, increase in PAs/NPs, and and significant increase in residency training programs which will create a surplus of Emergency Physicians -- all of this leads me to believe that if I want to maintain a high savings rate in the future I may have to work even more to get the same income I'm currently getting.

Doesn't need to be grade-A yuppie heaven by any means, but also think we'd feel awkward in a factory worker neighborhood.

I am an aspiring investor and a new user of the BP calculators, normally I would prefer to build my own spreadsheets, but here I am trying to innovate myself and become more efficient in the analysis process. 

After that....DONE DEAL...in a timely and efficient manner.I am curious if you have taken the time to add up the costs and your time (standard hourly rate) to see how it compares to having a professional company manage your property(ies).

Where will they put their HDQ and factory?   

So, with future RE investments preservation of capital is important factor. I

An accountant can also talk to you about the pros and cons of LLCs (a C Corp might be a more efficient vehicle for a non US resident depending on how much you want to invest and how long you want to keep funds in the US).

Also want our property management side to be more efficient and professional.  

Many owners don't realize that the majority of that service comes from the owner allowing the PM to efficiently address non-emergency maintenance issues.