Insights on communities, property prices, and prospective rental revenue might be obtained from them.Keep an eye out for areas that are experiencing gentrification or revival.

Thanks,Sarah  G'Day Sarah,Congrats on the leap of faith into the wonderful world of real estate investing.Best tip I could give you would be to take your time and soak up as much information on anything and everything real estate.Be it buying locally or out of state, the most important thing is to establish trust and relationships with key people dependent on the strategy you are looking at implementing.Over my career I have witnessed countless of investors getting caught up in online market stats, demographics, charts, etc... only to end up loosing money.As cliche as it mind sound but "Team-work makes the dream work"For example, if you buy the best house, in the best area, on the best street with the best capital growth prospects but your property manager is incompetent or a cheat.

My impression is that there are areas that cash flow really well, but have little to no prospect of appreciation (population is declining, no job growth, high crime rate, etc).

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $85,000

Cash invested: $45,000

Sale price: $172,500

This was a relatively straightforward project.

New bathro...

For anyone on here who is a local investor, what are some highlights I can incorporate to be more persuasive and help prospective investors to overcome their "fear" of investing in Detroit? 

Seek out prospects with fair property pricing, high rental demand, and room for appreciation.To diversify your portfolio, look into other real estate investment options such multi-family buildings, single-family rentals, and REITs.Family needs: Talk openly with your wife about your investing ideas and financial objectives.

You need to be lightning fast to get a prospect.

You can control prospective tenants "trashing" the place with a strict contract and higher up front deposit. 

I want to protect myself, but also don't want to turn off any good prospects. 

The conversion from prospect to lead and from lead to contract takes more reps and you are usually converting on less than 0.5% on every campaign.