After a year and a half, I'm breaking my BP silence because your tale has a familiar ring to it.Being a software engineer as well, when I decided I wanted to buy, I built a massive spreadsheet (it has retired even though I haven't yet) and input every property that hit the market for nearly two years.

Do you ever look to Instagram to find investor-friendly agents?  

:The data is not the problem, the problem is potentially being rejected by underwriting because the predictive FICO model deems you as high risk.I would imagine expanding the data over a longer time period (say 20-30 years) would show those same people have a much better chance of paying you back. just because they made a calculated risk in the worst housing market since the great depression doesnt really tell the whole tale in my opinion.I do however see your point and that would not be good forcing out legit buyers.

I've got a tale of 2 friends of mine owning rentals, middle class sort of rentals both of them.

You should shoot a video using your phone and upload the video to Instagram or YouTube and send the video link them.

I have heard of a coin backed by 1 gram of gold and that is around $250 but the gold is maybe worth $50.

I find the best way is to drive by the neighborhoods you like and look for tell tale signs that it is either vacant or is disrepair. 

Looking in the basement as well is usually a good tell tale sign (older panels and wiring exposed between the floor joists.Other things to consider with older properties (and newer ones alike) are: roof, windows, and hardware (furnace).

If you’re moving out of state I insta-sell.  

Things are much different in Real Estate now thanks to tik tok, instagram, etc.