Market forces are driving a lot of the high operating expense. 

Also, heading into a likely recession, learn everything you can now so you’re ready for the alternatives if life forces you to choose them.

My initial thought is that many of these people will be forced into lower rental areas and perhaps some a bit better.  

There are two driving forces for my desire to leave the state of California for my next investment. 

What we have seen so far is government forcing lenders to offer forbearance for 6 months and they can do it again.

My advice is to only go in to deals that will do at least two things for you:-Start with 25% equity either through getting yourself a killer deal or by forcing equity through rehab (or a combo of the two)-It will be cash flow positive.If a property does those two things, you will have at least two completely viable exit strategies, which will significantly lower your risk. 

In other words, it’s growth in rent just by forces of the market, and not because you had to improve the units to “justify” rent increases.In order to analyze the deal conservatively, best practices would be to analyze the deal with rent growth assumptions set at zero or very minimal for at least 12 months, since we assume it will take time for the market to come back to normal.

Your success depends strongly on your ability to understand construction, local market forces, contractor culture, financials, and your ability to evaluate the physical conditions of properties.

We are currently stationed in Clovis, NM with the Air Force but are wanting to invest long term in our hometown of Louisville, KY.Is long distance investing to start out your portfolio something others have had experience with and/or would recommend? 

And if they can't catch up on rent, many will at least move on to another place without forcing the landlord to evict to avoid having an eviction on their record.This is a key point regarding evictions.