I have 1 property under my belt & I'm about to close on my 2nd property next week :) My goal is to purchase at least 3 buy & hold properties a year starting 2015. 

It's a crazy scenario but if you have no skin in the game there is nothing really tying you to the property other than a perceived future profit, which may or may not come to pass.Now, having said that, after a few deals are under your belt with that lender I bet things could change to better suit your needs :)Regards, Lenny

I do not know about the specific area mentioned here other than the news stories.What I do know from talking with lots of investors is that the cold and rust belt states except for urban core in a lot of instances are dying off.I see many retail centers going dark, home values falling, older generations are migrating away to warmer climate states.I am sure there are some absolute gem areas in the colder climate states with pockets to invest in.

I am currently working the Greenfield and Fountain Square markets and hope to have my first wholesale transaction under my belt within the next 45 days.

We decided to pull the trigger with what we thought would worst case scenario we would break even so we could at least get one under our belt.  

There is the possibility of (much) bigger holding cost, and the opportunity cost of deploying the money in better ROI projects.But if OP has many rehab projects under his belt, new construction is the natural progression.

I've got 1 mortgage on my belt and my second which is NOO (non-owner occupied) was offered to me at 15% with a 5.125% rate.

There are of course the rules and regulations of getting a broker license, off the top of my head I do not recall but I believe it's 2+ years experience and/or a certain number of transactions under your belt.  

I generally recommend that beginning investors avoid them until the have some experience under their belts.

Perhaps you won't like all of what is explained in the beginning of your voyage, but with experience under your belt when you look back at it, that 'ah ha' moment will surely occur.