Keep in mind rent control is 1 thing, its a laws for existing tenants but some city's like Newark are so strict that you must get approval for what rent can be even after a tenant moves out and new ones move in. 

BEST DECISION I EVER DID WAS MAKE MY WIFE MY BUSINESS PARTNER THIS YEAR FELT LIKE NEW BEGINNINGS LEAVING A OLD PARTNERSHIP AND STARTING A NEW ONE LITTLE  DID WE KNOW THIS FLIP WOULD BE THE WORSE THING WE DID THIS YEAR TALK ABOUT A HOUSE THAT WOULDN'T STOP SPITTING OUT PROBLEMS FROM SQUATTERS BREAKING IN , FROM THE CITY CONSTANTLY GIVING VIOLATIONS, WE EVENTUALLY TOOK A LOSS OVER 50K OUCH!!  

Make sure you research rental licensing requirement per municipality as they very greatly and make some cities a real pain to deal with. 

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.DM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

Property is in Granite City, tenant lost his job, and has stopped responding to texts and emails. 

No off-street parking = not worth doing MTR unless it meets all of the following: super urban area where no parking is the norm, highly desirable area with a ton of MTR demand, super safe part of the city, and has great public transportation (think NYC, Hoboken NJ, etc.)Unless it meets all of the criteria above, I pass on those opportunities because my MTR will be eliminating the many people that travel with their vehicles.

Tip #1 - no such thing as one perfect market There is lots of data on Bigger Pockets and MTR experts that have released rankings of top cities for next year, but remember it's not just about the purchase-- it's also about the operation.

That might be the biggest hurdle - but otherwise, I'd check out "DSCR Loans" which are the perfect option for people like you looking to buy rental properties w/o W2 or DTIWe don't own any other properties other than the investment property we just purchased.

As an appraiser I’ve appraised a handful of properties recently that are outside of city limits and operating successfully as STR’s that don’t have the same regulations as the city of St Pete.

Him seeming hopeless also makes me feel hopeless too.Baltimore is a tough city, especially for out of state investors.