Minisplits have become pretty popular due to their energy efficiency & price point plus the fact that you can control temperature in each room.

Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but they are getting multiple offers to buy their home.

I learn a great deal in here and these "Pop-ups" from you are incredibly helpful. 

Im looking around on some of the more popular websites like Zillow, Loopnet, Realtor etc. 

So, I'm new to seriously vetting the ability to invest in real estate, and I found incredible motivation after going to a meetup and seeing, meeting and picking the brains of full-time investors.My question to shoot out is this: what really motivated you to buy your first deal? 

I have a condo in the heart of the lower greenville, one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, that I haven't been able to rent for 2 months.

As far as colors for paint, check comps around your property to see what is popular.

The vinyl plank (esp gray color) is popular the cost is no more than $2/sf with underlayer.

Some of the reasons I've invested in the Smokies are: A) it's withstood the test of time as a vacation destination, having been popular longer than I've been alive; B) it's a drive-to destination, not a fly-to one, making it more accessible to people from a variety of financial backgrounds; and C) it's an affordable destination, so it's less likely to feel a big squeeze during recession than a high priced market might.  

If you can get 4 doors cashflowing with no cash out of pocket, that’s incredible.