@Jimmy O'Connor I don't invest in Philly, at least not yet, but this is great information! 

It's at this point many exit the real estate investing business. 

We reduce the number of investment properties to consider by about 99.6% using our data mining software.

@Richard Schubert If the house next door is a solid enough deal you could always raise the money from people in your network to tie it up.

Ok so a diff path then my previous post.I also wanted to invest in real estate but just assume( and bet is probably true) that most of the people that find truly good investments have  either or all of the following the most "average joes" don't:1.

With your rental income, a hard money or FHA loan could minimize payments. 

Managing the property yourself can save money, teach you the ropes, and give you firsthand experience dealing with tenants and operations.

What have you found is worth the money and what isn’t?

Yes, having tenants pay ACH via a Tenant Portal software is best, but not all will cooperate and some will play games that result in NSF charges.We allow tenants to deposit cash/check/money order directly at our bank into our account.Many Class C & D tenants have challenges adapting to unfamiliar ways to pay and is often not worth the hassle (and possible evictions) to get them to change:(

Almost every realtor has several investors ready to invest at least $2 million in cash.If you’re planning to use hard money loans, agents won’t show properties without prior proof of funds.I’m curious, is this a general market trend in Ohio or just this particular realtor’s approach?