Extremely knowledgable and no pie in the sky fluff.

the biggest indication of a investor failing in real estate is not having enough reserves to get through the rainy seasons of the investment where as people who can get through over a long period of time do extremely well.

Implementing a solid skip tracing strategy into your marketing mix can be extremely valuable.  

The "education" that was presented at the REI meetings were little more than sales pitches, giving people just enough information to be enticing to go buy their education system and just enough to be extremely dangerous without the rest of the training. 

@David KrulacThis form is extremely simple to fill out and took 4 minutes.

If a borrower is low on cash reserves, but still needs to show 6-9 months of PITI in the bank, a program that gives you credit for your cash-out funds towards the asset requirement is extremely helpful.

My biggest hurdles included being in an extremely expensive market (Vermont) and understanding that if I wanted to get involved in real estate I’d have to look out of state.

True non-recourse is EXTREMELY rare in residential real estate, so I hope this clears up some confusion and helps someone!

. - You may be surprised to know that many countries outside US speak extremely fluent English and can handle customer service better than most. 

If you could provide more information about the contract it may open up more ideas.I would agree with @Zane Cress that a tenant buy-out would be a good option, although if you are dealing with 5-6 properties (And how ever many units per property) you're looking at an extremely high cost.