In a tough market, it's easy to get distracted by all the shiny opportunities that come up.For example, to really focus on growing our real estate agent business, we made the difficult decision to stop buying investment properties this year.

However, it may change.I live in Santa Fe, NM, and it's very difficult to get a permit here.Your mileage may vary. 

Also, the leads come from up to 10 different states, and my only area of expertise is Atlanta and Memphis, so I found it difficult to convert many of the leads.Take this with a grain of salt though, as the service may work for you even though it hasn't worked all that well for me!

@Pete Tarin,It’s going to be pretty difficult to tell based off of Zillow alone.

@Olu Oguntoyinbo Its more difficult to cashflow the closer you get to NYC.

Definitely smart researching this before purchasing as it’s more difficult than many believe.

The problem is that it seems that it will be very difficult to generate even a neutral cash flow given the high HOA fees, taxes, and insurance in Florida.

However, I have a feeling they might be hesitant to provide one.Since this is my first out of state investment, I'd likely walk away if the tenant turns out to be difficult.

So yes, I'd say the first step is to informally talk with the tenants face to face and get a sense of who will be cooperative and who could be difficult, and let that inform your strategy for each of them going forward.

Speaking as both an investor and realtor based in FtL, these small MF are very difficult to get into at the moment due to excessively high pricing leading to negative cashflow if you plan to finance them.