I mean, it was a scared industry when I first started and still is so why is it dead now? 

Idea 6: Wait until your market is so insanely hot and has low inventory like San Francisco, oh and a "Not In My Backyard" mentality...

I think the optimal strategy will be to find cities that have good returns, maybe not the highest, but that also have minimal regulatory risks.Nashville, Charleston & Asheville are great examples of cities that have some of the highest returns, but the regulatory risk is so high that it might not be your optimal city to invest. 

Tarrant county is so overlooked by landlord investors but it seems the list of large companies building large facilities with lots of employees on the Fort Worth side is never-ending.

Credit is so important in this business.I will be interested to see what others say in response to your question.  

Plus there is so much competition from tons of people trying to get into wholesaling, not to mention the big players already getting the lions share.

.* Call local property mgr's and/or ask for referrals from your relator friends/associates, and ask them for referrals - sometimes they will be nice enough to offer helpful advice, especially, if you tell them you will consider using them when you turn the house into a rental in a yearAs a 27yr appraiser and Realtor/Broker, the paint job has minimal affect on the value, unless it is so bad that I have to mark it down in quality and/or condition.

Getting pre-qualified up front is so key especially for international clients so they have a clear picture of their purchasing power and there are no hiccups when it comes to closing.

Contrary to popular belief, yes good operators do market and spend money on marketing because there is so many bad offerings out there they still need to be noticed. 

The city is pretty pro housing especially close to the urban core as this property is.   So