Hello Ryan,I am in a similar boat, but unfortunately, unless you have huge capital reserves, it'll be hard to buy enough to offset that much income, at least in a short amount of time. 

If you locate and purchase a property even at current market value in one of these neighborhoods, you're likely not to find yourself upside-down in something in the short term (the next couple of years) and beyond, even if (WHEN) the market begins to soften.Identifying this will either take a whole lot of research on your end and/or the help of someone else who knows the market better.

you have to tell your buyer, likley illegal not to, but you dont want it blowing up an escrow...... but if the house didnt cause the murders... aka it was an angry spouse, could have happened anywhere, not because of neighbors or a local gang etc.... then price it attractively and people will overcome the ick factor.  

Not to mention the fact that $160k to $250k in the next 5 years is not likely to occur as we are at peak market prices and short of a major break through in technology and jobs, salaries won't support that without a significant correction first.

I am looking in the $175K-$250K range.Questions:I've listened to Podcast 229 with Zeona McIntyre and read the articles about short-stay on this site. 

Is there any traditional way short of hard money to take down this property? 

"I thought the high *** grass with broken down vehicles in your yard and torn sheets hanging in your windows was particularly attractive."    

If you're going to be living here for 4+ years, I would suggest finding a short term rental (6 month maybe) to get situated and really scope out the different areas.

I think what you are failing to factor into your analysis between the 30k home and the 60k+ home is the quality of tenant you will be able to attract for each type of home.

Unfortunately I don't know if this loan is compliant with Dodd-Frank.Long story short is that we know the borrower.