Or is it preferable to stay in your local area for deals that you can possibly source in cheaper surrounding areas? 

Drywall is typically cheaper, but both go up pretty easily.

Obviously the more south and east we go, the cheaper the neighborhoods become.

Do the cheaper $10k-$20k homes provide better returns than the $40K-$50K homes on a relative basis?

Delayed my buyer at my cost plus it was cheaper to pay the lien than fight it3.

As everyone knows a residential loan is a lot cheaper than a investment loan.

It has been my experience that you can buy/fix a property much cheaper than building from the ground up.

You can get most of these answer by speaking to a local surveyor or civil engineer (the surveyor will be much cheaper).   

You're paying the bank back with cheaper dollars than you borrowed. 

You generally get what you pay for, as long as you filter out the random scams, and so if there is a higher price from one provider ask what they offer that is different than their cheaper counterparts.In regards to how you will want to file the entity (S-Corp) - it would depend on what type of investment you are running.