I would say you better bet would probably be to keep investing in more properties as opposed to paying of the houses one at a time.

So I'm hoping some flexibility in the under 3 per year area re appraisals.

Best bet is to have systems regularly tested

I get the idea of cash on cash returns, but if someone told you that you would see 1% in price gains over 20 years (in other words, a 20% gain), you'd have to ask yourself if that acceptably beats inflation and the cost of the interest on the mortgage, and I bet you'd decline to purchase if you had that crystal ball.

Non Fannie Mae lenders can be more flexible so if her case is the 7 years I would try local banks that keep those loans in househttp://www.realtor.com/home-finance/homebuyer-information/how-soon-can-you-buy-a-home-after-a-foreclosure.aspx

The neighborhood is not the best, but there are far worse.Your best bet (Which you are already doing) is to continue talking to locals in that area, maybe other BP'ers or at investor meet ups etc..When I bought my property last year there are several others in the surrounding area within the same price point, now I am having a hard time finding the sweet spot of cost to value ratio.

This does not diminish the asset protection value.But a C-corp may not be your best bet.

I'm not saying there is no value in courses you might pay for but if you devote the same amount of time that you would spend in studying these courses to being involved in BP, I would bet you would gain a similar amount of knowledge.

I am flexible, however I am looking for deals!.

Multis I still have a stiff learning curve on but I bet it's true there too.