I think you are going to get a wide range of opinions here because ultimately where and how you choose to live/invest can be a very personal decision and vary based on personal values, desired lifestyle, investment strategy, etc.

FEMA 2.0 will factor in the risk of a tsunami into the new coastal rates. 

@Mario Casarez hey Mario, Id agree with @Paul Welden - HomeStyle is a great renovation loan program (and is still available) to jumpstart your BRRR investing, but it really depends on a few factors to determine which loan option is best between Homestyle, 203k, hard money, etc.

Those big blue city refugees bid war fighting each other for houses are going for that perfect picket fence suburban lifestyle, flush with the cash they got selling their big blue city townhome or condo. 

I don't see a lot of 2 bedrooms in Chattanooga getting $1700/mo in rent, especially not places that are bought for $175k, so those aspects of the deal look good.The 1% rule doesn't take into account a lot of factors, such as upcoming CapEx, etc. 

This implies that the price is based on many factors including expected return and expected risk. 

Currently shooting for around the 500k mark as that’s affordable and lands me close to downtown for my preferred lifestyle, if it’s my own condo that I buy first.What would you recommend, buy your own home first or buy a rental (an investment property?)

I even experiment with what-if’s, like if the purchase price was 10% lower or the rents were higher, or i factor in no property manager, etc. 

Your next door will probably need more of a cash savings built up but it should be within reach in about a year depending on your lifestyle.

I realize I am leaving out subdivision costs and other factors, but you get the idea.