I love Irving Park and Portage Park in the NW as well as places that you can find some values, but are improving rapidly.  

One area that people fail to mention that is relatively close to you I guess that you could look into is Rapid City SD.

This whole thing rapidly deteriorates into a mess.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me when the REIC meet times are, and where in the west Michigan area (Grand Rapids, Muskegon) as I'm looking to connect with like minded individuals who's been in the game a while and can help me get off on the right foot.

It is not uncommon to see inspections waived and other concessions included.If you are looking to rent, again, in the core areas of Seattle, rents have been climbing rapidly and a house/apartment/condo large enough to accommodate a family will probably price well above $2,000/month.

I have been a real estate licensee for more than 30 years and I have seen the evolution of the business.

NJ has the highest property taxes in the USA and people are leaving rapidly.

I know our area hasn't fully recovered since the crash and many houses are still upside down even though this is rapidly changing.

A little background about myself is that I'm an out of state investor (living in California but looking to invest in Grand Rapid, MI), and I'm searching for small multi-family properties of 2-4 units that are less than 100K.  

I'm in a very similar boat... 24 years old, looking for a multi family, and investing in the Midwest (Grand Rapids, MI).