In general, my mindset about all of this is a work in progress - while I intellectually recognize that what renters in the Midwest want is different from what I in California think they want, changing my assumptions (and feeling that my new assumptions are accurate) is not easy!  

That product has to A) fill a need B) The need has to be large enough that the target market can generate sufficient scale to generate profits and C) has to be either difficult to replicate by competitors or protected by intellectual property rights.

This is my intellectual and copyrighted property sold by a website that steals credit card info from unsuspecting good people like yourselves.  

Remember that a piece of real estate is the same as a stock or intellectual property.

The taxes are just too much...there are only a handful of people in the US that can actually make a flipping business work (and they don't flip for very long)...but its too much like a job...The real profits in flipping come from teaching other people how to flip...intellectual property.

That said: it would be intellectually dishonest if most investors didn't admit that they have their own set of prejudices (myself included) when it comes to buying a property, and though it may not be said out loud one of the questions that will often go through someone's mind is "will this place be difficult to rent because of the makeup of the neighborhood", and demographics is part of that neighborhood. 

Aaron, I think the biggest hurdle is the intellectual worth.

The contract was for the purchase and sale of the property and nowhere in the contract does it include assignment of intellectual property rights.

That doesn't include assets, inventory or intellectual property.

Some people see kindness as a sign of weakness - and it appears that they have not been intellectually honest with you.