Many investors stick to the suburbs as the city itself can be risky depending on the street.

It's ok to stick with one niche. 

We haven't figured out a niche yet, but we are exploring all aspects to see what sticks in our local market.

Stick with your initial offer. 

Once you have applicants, you can do the real screening (credit checks, background, rental history, etc.)Have requirements and stick to them.

Problem is, I would ultimately like to stick relatively close to my home base, but the multis there are generally in questionable neighborhoods.

Since I am still currently on a path to become debt free, along with trying to save as much money as possible (I have about 10k in savings), should I just stick with this 'grind' for the time being and continue to educate myself in REI?

If you're experienced (i.e. have done at least 3-5 deals in the past couple of years), you can get rates in the 7's and 8's with 1-2pts for a 1-yr loan.If you need to close fast (in less than a week), I'd stick with Intrust just to get your deal done. 

@Steve Fitzgerald Find a great one and stick with them.

If we did this on our own in smaller bites vs. financing through lender with strict guidelines...also if stick built is significant savings vs modular at these rates.