New Jersey gets a bad reputation because there are cities with extremely strict landlord laws, people invest in those areas thinking they are getting a good deal because the numbers "look good" on paper, long story short many of these areas are horrible places to invest with some of the strictest landlord laws in the world. 

Hey Daniel,I think it really depends on what your strategy is.If you are planning to pick the market, furnish and manage the property then education will be extremely beneficial.If you are partnering with an experienced agent/manager then a lot of the guesswork is taken out.I'm based out of central FL and have helped multiple Canadians purchase investments in FL.

In my experience, CPAs are extremely responsive in year 1, lag significantly but not alarmingly by year 2, and then respond only after a week between emails and 6 follow ups after year 3. 

It is very hard to tell if we are getting paid all we are due. (3) I have been told they are more setup to handle extremely low-income areas, which doesn’t exactly describe the properties we have.They have been so unbelievably incompetent on the whole, it has made my wife and I consider just selling our properties and getting out.

It is extremely common for PM companies to accommodate for external contractors - as mentioned above, it is your property at the end of the day. 

If the copper makes you feel better then use it, plumbers in my area pipe their own houses in pex and only care for copper because they make more on material upcharge and labor to install.As a side note- acidic water breaks down copper, which ingesting can cause health issues, and can cause pinholes in copper piping.

I could see investors flipping these properties but you'd have to push the market really hard or have extremely cheap labor costs (probably both).

James has time and time again always posted extremely helpful information on every post, he would be a great person to connect 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.

I'm hesitant about getting a real estate license cause so many tell me that route is extremely tough and most real estate agents quit within the first year.