I think there is good potential in some of these areas because people would be drawn to probably better schools, a bit more space, but still be close enough if they had economic reasons to need to be near the bigger cities.Thanks everyone.

You have one side of story. landlord however will be less likely to lie to fellow landlord and I weigh landlord references over all credit reports, and tenant provided information etc. perfect credit doesn't really matter if the last landlord told me the applicant was a nitpicker, always late with rent, dirty, or [insert nightmare issue here].please be sure to reference the screening primer to make sure you have all other aspects covered:http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2011/3/31/screening-tenants-primer/

How perfect did your CMA have to be if you think you could have made that much?

Wayne, You can have a fictitious name, perfectly legal, the name must be filed as a fictitious name with the Sec of State. #6 by itself is okay. #7 is a big issue and can be fraud, at this point attempted fraud as it hasn't closed as I understand.

My realtor is an investor herself, which worked out perfectly.

Don't over think it.There's never going to be a "perfect" deal. 

If I want to sell my portfolio for 3 million right now as opposed to some long drawn out process, with dozens of moving parts and dependent variables; id laugh.  

That's doable in a much shorter time, and they won't crack if you don't have a perfect subfloor.

I'm particularly drawn to the flexibility and potential for growth that real estate offers. 

It's not a perfect solution, but it could be a fair compromise for both sides.