From what I can tell, the only thing saving these companies is that they have great marketing and do a good job raising money from new investors for the next project while polishing the turd of their last project so they can sell themselves as a great success story.

You hit the nail on the head.

@Danny Gonzalez you hit the nail on the head.

While there is money in polishing turds, early note investors should focus on solving problems that they have some experience in resolving. 

maybe you can form your own mastermind / small group of local people in your same situation and work on strategies together.I think @Marcus Auerbach totally nailed it. 

When you are hammer everything looks like a nail. 

The difference in locations between one mile and five miles could be highly subjective and difficult to nail down.

In a location like this, you kind of have to nail it.

Nailing down a buy box in the area, funding, and having a plan will come out of absorbing a ton of knowledge and narrowing down to what makes the most sense to you, what fits your life, and what fits your goals the best. 

Financing- build a relationship with a regional banker, don’t shop for interest rates, start small and build history and loyalty they are your team, Cross collateralize, deposit CD/MM or custodial account with bank for loan, give them monthly updates, nail your deal analysis, do stress tests on your deal analysis-cost/interest rate/deal length/ sale price etc. 12.