We have used a couple of strategies:  we lived on our lower rank income and saved the rest. 

He also presumably lives in an A neighborhood.

The "Hot/Up and Coming Neighborhoods" like Point Breeze and Brewerytown have quickly become over inflated with the resale value, often times from wholesalers selling to wholesalers who then eventually sell it to an investor.  

Great neighborhood in an HOA with community center in a desirable area.

@Jarrod Kohl To your second question, no I believe it was priced accordingly to the neighborhood.

One is a 60 unit b class property in Ft Worth TX. 80's build, townhouse style property in a nice old money neighborhood of town and close to a medical school.

Providence and surrounding neighborhoods don't have positive inflation-adjusted growth over the long-term (shocking) so to make money in this city you need to i) invest cyclically and ii) have access to good deal flow.

The only possible exception to this would be if you are house hacking in an A class neighborhood, and you are using a low down payment loan.

I personally find a property I am interested in and then drive by to check out the neighborhood (do people take care of their properties, are there lots of boarded up houses, etc.) . 

While I acknowledge that economic strength is just one facet of a good rental market, it is a major factor and I wanted to share what I've found (the details of my methodology and raw data can be found after the various rankings):Top 10 best economiesProvo-Orem, UTSalt Lake City, UTCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WIDallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXKansas City, MO-KSLongview, TXLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-INSan Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CABirmingham-Hoover, ALThere were two main factors to overall economic strength that I looked at – how diverse/broad the economy is and how many economic drivers (i.e. strength) the area has.