Any recommendations on areas to avoid or be careful given high crime rates around Downtown and East Cleveland?

A realtor doing high volume, you don't have to use one you can poll 3-5 agents see what they do to get you the comps and then pick that person to help you.

Quote from @Geoffrey Paugam: I suspect there are many managers there, but maybe not any good ones?

That gets worse as you get farther out of the cityTLDR: values depreciate, inflation has gone basically nowhere in Japan for a long time, the supply of housing is pretty good compared to demand (unlike the US) and that's because of flexibility with rezoning and development, taxes on rental income are high.  Good

Quote from @Briley Roe:  yes those fees are very high as you have a broker fee and other fees for a loan little over $100k at 6+ points. 

Quote from @Taryn Eagle: Good Morning!

The Real Estate Guys do a great newsletter with lots of high-level information about the economy and how it impacts real estate.  

Some theming is basic and some is overdone, try to be unique or at least high quality, not a place you want to skimp.

Good quality assets + leverage + time makes real estate worth the hassle - even if you can only buy 1 property every 2-3 years.  

Most often owners have too high of expectations for C/D neighborhoods.