That should give you a lot of options when it comes to selecting possible markets.  

When using this strategy, make sure you select a bank that is good to work with.

Say it ain't so....SMDH  - FOLLOW THE MONEYIt is not the entire reason but is a huge contributing factorOne person who is financially benefiting from every stock market rally is Jay Powell who has tens of millions in ETF fund long holdings, including $SPY, $RUT & holdings with Blackrock the same firm he selected for doing the Fed's ETF buyingLINK TO HIS FILINGS https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/P... https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/05/fed-chair-powell-has-upwards-of-11-6-million-invested-with-blackrock-the-firm-that-will-manage-a-750-billion-corporate-bond-bailout-program-for-the-fed/

I looked at Lima One, which was mentioned by one of my team members, but the negative reviews got to me.To clarify: I'm a buy-and-hold investor looking for MFR's with little (cosmetic) to no work needed - already cash-flowing or cash-flowable.  

Due to the rampant REIT and large regional/local builders your grade of investment can degrade very quickly in a large city if you have not selected a location with little chance of competition coming in.Cash in:SBA loan 10% down$250,000 on $2,500,000; loan of $2,250,000. 

Don't want to evict that either :-) but you need to select well from the start.To me, it has always been important to have great relationships.

But if you have other primary interests, I recommend that you first read The Hands-Off Investor by Brian Burke, then carefully select a few passive investment opportunities.

The entity must select a designated broker who is an officer, manager, or partner of the corporation, LLC, or partnership.

I live in a small city so there’s not a huge selection of realtors.

We too, want to "get there first"  - before anyone/agent gets involved.Here is what we do: Select an area/zip/house type/mortgage %/whatever we want to target, and use DataTree (best for houses we have found) to download ALL the ownership & property info.