Buying a property that targets the wrong tenant pool can cost you a lot.Find a segment with a high concentration of dependable tenants.The only source for such hyper-local segment information is local property managers.

For example, Texas is a unique state in that there is an entire tax lien lending industry concentrated in a handful of companies, and the rules are somewhat opaque but clear regarding right of redemption (specifically around homeowner age and owner-occ vs. non-owner occ). 

No use looking backwards but, if I could start over, I would have bought houses with less cashflow and more upside by concentrating on gentrifying areas.

@Ibn Abney in both cases you mention, Oakland and NYC, both real estate markets were driven by the concentration of technology companies that came into the area with jobs, attracting the youth with better jobs.Chicago has............................. no technology companies wanting to set up shop there and the number one city in the US where people are leaving the area.Without technology companies wanting to set up shop in droves, it's a dying city in my opinion.  

Meditation subjects range from deep concentration to inner strength to "emergency calm."

It was a subsidiary of a major insurance company, they obviously didn't know what they were doing, closed in a few years after losing $150 million.I had no luck calling around bank REO departments, so I concentrated on auctions.

@Mike Barry, what you could have done in parallel with your Short Sale Offers was concentrate on non-Short Sales for your desired "quick" outcomes while dutifully ignoring the Bank-Sellers once your Short Sale Offers were in.

I am also from Northern Virginia specifically concentrating on out of state turnkey investing.

He seems to concentrate almost exclusively on Indianapolis--not sure if I want to invest there either.

I have since stopped working for them back in April and concentrate on a small farm and real estate.