When you get shortages of housing and the demand we had from Illinois people moving to Indiana, it was causing and still is to a less degree, bidding wars.

To the degree AVM's aren't reliable, access to MLS data is probably not the issue, though it is a common misunderstanding about AVM's.The real issue with AVM's is that they are based on public records data which doesn't include a lot of important details like floor plan, curb appeal, view, quality of neighbors, etc.

My mother has a degree in accounting, so her financial acumen is quite alright.

Nothing like those 3:48 PM sunsets and 20 degree high temps in December. 

Again it's not because you're white/black/gay...it's because you have a *****ng hoodie on at night when it's 90 degrees out. 

I am happy to be using my education and degree but I miss the fun and challenges of owning a business.I would like to invest in single family homes or maybe just land, since there is a lot available up here.

After two engineering degrees and 16 or so years in Dilbert-world, I finally realized that it wasn't for me.  

Since the house doesn't go below a certain temperature when set on 68 degrees are there any suggestions?

A bank of any kind is going to be very conservative in their underwriting but there are degrees of conservative.

@Dustin Hollar Not an investor in commercial, but have worked in asset management for commercial real estate funds for 5+ years (and less importantly a masters degree in RE) and am about to take a break from work and will have some free time if you want some knowledge.