You should connect with @Fed Finjap; I just saw on another post that he is also buying in the Chicago neighborhood ofLakeview and he recently went through some lessons learned on a 3 flat in Chicago.Check out his post:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/922/topics/1223655-refl...

If I negotiate a $15K discount because of that, now I’m actually creating value, not just buying into someone else’s numbers.A good turnkey operator shouldn’t just flip a house to you at market price—they should be finding off-market deals, adding a flat fee, and making sure you’re stepping into real equity.

Sometimes you can find a large enough company that you can sub everything out to them and get paid on a commission or flat fee basis, or you can get the property platted and sell it that way.

Brokers, loan officers, and underwriters flat out get things wrong sometimes.

It comes with guides on how to ride the tubes, a crash course in local customs, places of interest, places to avoid, and holly cow it looks just like what they had in there heads of what a London "flat" would look like, so charming and so "Brit"..... 

After all, the Earth is flat in some forums. 

The reason I say this is because Europe experienced the exact same spike in inflation, except they never increased M2 like we did, it's just flat.

I argue how would median incomes double in CA and lay flat or significantly lag in rest of country? 

Below are some actionable steps I plan to take after identifying a market:- find a rock star agent by referral and/or calling brokerages and asking to connect with their top producing agents- find a rock star contractor by referral and/or yelp- have control over construction by setting per diems to incentivize contractor to finish the project on time, within budget, and with good quality- leverage my rock star agent's time to check up on the construction process (checks and balances)- hire independent handymen/inspectors to check up on the construction process for a flat fee (checks and balances) There's competition everywhere, you won't escape that in any market. 

Where I am, the market has been flat and down for a long time.