I look forward to having some success stories to share with you in the not too distant future.

(We're not discussing seller financing, below market financing or assumable financing here, that's a whole another discussion vis-a-vis the relationship of value to below market financing.)What the Professor is saying is that real estate values have NOT increased in "real dollar", when you exclude inflation from that equation.Once upon a time, a long time ago in a distant land, the distance measured in a few miles, before the current real estate crash; I discovered several pockets of real estate that were somewhat isolated from market fluctuations in value.

Someone is trying to sell you a pig with lipstick on it, and doing it at a distant won't work well.

They were distant friend's of someone who had once known someone who knew the owner of the house.To make a long story short, the buyer I was working with was a young guy and not connected (if you know what I mean), and I didn't want to expose him to any possible retaliation from hardcore criminal squatters.I understood why the school district backed off.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, refinance and pay off the old mortgage.

The house has since appreciated significantly, I make money on it every month, and the 7k is just a distant memory.

Not ready to go distant just yet. 

Point of my saying that is cash flow can be found here in socal if you can stomach the more distant towns and the headaches of a C-class area.On the other hand- I myself am curious about out of state... being a newbie in SoCal (a very expensive state), I'm in a similar boat as you... eager to hear what others have to say.

The friend who texted me himself is a manager and I can just see myself getting micromanaged or something in the not too distant future if I go down the apartment rabbit hole with him. 

Since you're working in a distant area, you will need some boots on the ground to avoid bad deals.