According to her, in this day and age they don't have the technical ability to remove the duplications.

As someone coming from an appreciation-only market prior to moving to NC be the best way to look at it is from the 2-5 year approach and factor in things like local growth, school districts, employment centers, and the bottom line of the property.

Above all how do you see your employment and income growth over the next 10 years.

However, Atlanta has experienced a steady growth rate. 

But renters were covering the additional $60.We have since moved into that property and have refinanced out of PMI.Our next rental is long-term lease, and we are putting 20% down to keep expenses low and maximize the cash-flow.It's all situational, and depends on overall goals, financial ability, loan terms, etc.An additional 5% down could eat into reserves.

The goal is appreciation and equity growth rather than high cash flow.I get I’ll need $60,000 for the down payment.

@Sandra Helena Holtz Ivarsson DIY is tough for out of state because you will still have to keep up on any relevant laws, and you likely won't do enough volume to have the ability to determine which vendors on the list are worth keeping around. 

*If you use and/or have a great/excellent real estate agent, you can lean on their ability and resources. 

I'm wondering if it's time to find a new accountant that also invests in real estate that can help set us up to minimize our tax liability without affecting our ability to acquire additional loans. 

We also typically mention the required option fee in the ad, to screen out those without the ability to pay it.I encourage you to consider working with an agent to get it listed on MLS, particularly one familiar with how these deals work.Also, I recommend you increase your option fee to test the market; you can always reduce it if you haven't gotten any traction in the first week.