That way you know they are active in the BP community!

Here in TN brokerages regularly hold EM deposits; I have a dedicated account for such deposits myself, by law, even though I don't actively broker RE but just maintain my brokerage for the PM side of things.

For those that don't have the time or resources it's a great way to passively invest.Now if you want to be more active there are agents who can help you scale with the right teams in place.

A quick look at groups near Camp Pendleton shows plenty of activity from folks seeking housing.

This means that if you do not want something as active as value adds, you need to be patient.  

I also want to be active in other rust-belt cities that are similar to Milwaukee and I want to be part of their eventual comeback: Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, St.

Those meetups are a great way to soak up relevant info from other active investors.

Active syndicators are frequently quoted in news articles or have entire articles written about them in trade and mainstream publications.

There are a lot of active agents in Columbus on here.

I'd rather just invest in something that would gain value and get deductions through an active business - created for the purpose of tax deductions.