I hope to change that in the near future with some local investing, but it is much more challenging.

Green Tree Acceptance in Houston and Vanderbilt in Nashville seem to show up a lot, mostly for new but on some used transfers as well.It's a market I keep looking for opportunities in but there are challenges for sure.

Now, I challenge you to take another." - Dan Poynter

However, my challenges lie in how to appropriately assess the property value in order to make a fair offer?

Here, a judge will throw it out and this area is not that unique, IMO. :) PS.

We both have 740+ credit scores, one of us has a higher debt-to-income ratio,  but the other doesn't, we have a decent amount of capital between us, so qualifying for a loan in general isn't the challenge, we just want to be smart.

That type of congruency challenge can give rise to much consternation.Just a thought...

I recently closed on a nine-unit and was able to challenge my assessment down to the purchase price.

@Marco Campos -- The challenge as you've discovered in coastal markets, and other "bubble" markets, is that it is hard to achieve attractive rates of return.  

I like each of your ideas with the 10% relative to your rentals, those are both unique to me and a great way to make a difference.