Most OOS investors fail to realize that Detroit was geographically built for 2 million people, but currently has less than half that population.Some areas of the city, maybe 1/3, are coming back strong, another 1/3 is so-so and the last 1/3 is no mans land.How long you have sit on a piece of land before you can profit on it, depends on where you buy.

Plus a brief explanation of how to obtain them.

Thanks @David M. for your explanation. 

The payment receipts are also in someones name that is not on the lease and when I asked for clarification, they sellers agent refused to get an explanation for me.

The payment receipts are also in someones name that is not on the lease and when I asked for clarification, they sellers agent refused to get an explanation for me.

Simple explanation is not every cares about CAP rate based on 25% down at 5% interest for 25 years.

Sounds like you want to be hands on and geographical proximity would be somewhat imperative.

After picking up a few rentals, it is time to purchase a flip.Also, if I find a property within a certain geographic area, I want to buy & hold.

As a complete beginner, I would appreciate feedback from the community on things to consider when looking at this particular geographical area and when purchasing a multi-family home in the next 6 months in today's difficult and expensive market and yet still come ahead by lowering significantly the mortgage payments or even breaking even.

Write the strategy(s) out on paper before going to steps 2 & 3 and try to condense and simplify the explanations of the strategy(s) as much as possible, 3-4 steps, focusing on the questions of "How is this creating value/cashflow?"