There are a lot of good meetups for real estate investors in the area that would be good to grow your network and learn from others that are and have been in your shoes as a new investor, message me and I can share on some specific monthly meetups.Also sharing some multifamily data, this is Boston proper so it has an interesting trend compared to the rest of Massachusetts.

Install cameras and exterior lighting on timers, place no trespassing signs, and place items that indicate occupancy - like a BIG dog bowl near the front door, shoes, etc. 

HI @Ananth SubramanianI have not been in your shoes but have read others that have and from what it sounds like getting the judgement is the easy part and physically collecting the $$ from the tenants is the hardest most impossible part.

I am pretty handy and have done plenty of restoration work myself and not afraid to put in some elbow grease. looking into real estate to get the wealth ball rolling but feel a little uneasy given the current state of the economy. what would you do in my shoes?! 

When somebody asks for advice, I always try to put myself in their shoes and understand who they are and what their objectives are so I tried to do that with you with the little amount of info I could garner from your profile.

If you were in my shoes, what real estate strategy would you recommend for scaling quickly (but smartly) so that I can replace a good portion of the W2 income from real estate investing?

Congratulations hope to be I your shoes one day!

If I were in your shoes, I’d look at the BRRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) to stretch your liquidity while building equity and cash flow.

A financial advisor or real estate pro could help you map it all out more concretely.If I were in your shoes, I'd probably lean towards selling and reinvesting into some more diverse assets, or just more properties, but that's just me. 

So picture this @Kevin Rodriguez, someone strolls up to you in grocery store parking lot and says "Hi, nice to meet you.