LolCR is a little sleepier than I'm used to, but I like that it's pretty much stable, folks are nice, and it has diversification in industry.

Worthy noting it's close to light industrial and downtown commercial, albeit a small town.We will likely buy and hold until I can do a refi and add to the portfolio.Its the main house large 3br, 2, 2br and 9 1br.

Someone will try to tackle this industry--we're motivated to be the ones to take a shot at it.Our product and experience are not fit for everyone and it's, by no means, as great as an experience as we'd hope.

Are there any tried and true/ industry standard sites, forums, etc. where those looking to avoid capital gains look for investment properties?  

@Ed Henson REI Nation has one of the best reputations in the industry:)You may also want to look at the Detroit market!

You have a lot of empathy that many in this industry lack.

There is a joke in the industry that anyone who says "I've been doing it this way for (insert number of years here)!"

I hope this give you a better insight as to how the industry works. 

I'd like to pursue sales, and for a while I thought I'd be looking in the tech industry.

In a nutshell it is a cash flow industry with high yield (6% to 11% net pretax) affordable at USD$30K to $70K on average, and most importantly services are transparent.