There are also many online sites that provide crime statistics, if that's your primary concern.It's hard for me to mentally map the zoo/botanical garden in Roger Williams Park to neighborhoods outside the Park, but generally speaking the parts of Cranston that border Providence, around the Park (e.g., Elmwood and part of Broad St especially around/past the cemetery), are a bit tougher than ones that don't (e.g., near Park View middle school or parts closer to Edgewood than Providence).As far as self managing vs. using a property management company, I don't really know your situation - e.g., how far away you are, how much time you have to devote to the property, managing service calls, going there if necessary, ability to do your own work, etc.So that's something you'll really need to decide for yourself - though I would say as a new person, you should expect that you'll be there a bit more than you "imagine" you will be (at least that was my experience when I was new 15+ yrs ago).If you do decide to hire it out, I can recommend a couple of local companies.

I did review a formal inspection that was completed within the last 2 years and aside from some age related and climate related issues, it seemed to otherwise present satisfactory.

Would you prefer for the meetup to be nothing formal, just a casual hang out to interact with other investors in the area to discuss deals, hopes, and dreams, etc..... or would you prefer to have a topic to discuss and possibly have someone in the real estate world (bankers, lenders, financial advisors, Inspectors, etc.) come to chat with everyone about what they can do to help and what they look for? 

Is a formal partnership agreement required for tax time?

Buy the $70-$120k properties that border Detroit. 

I'd say in a grid between Alexandria, Cornwall, US border and Quebec border. 

That could be no garage (when all the other homes on the street have one), backing up to or on a busy main street, bordering or in ear shot of active railroad tracks, in airport flight paths, or where the subject property sits next to or across from a trashed house.

What does evicting a tenant with no formal lease look like?

He wants to take out some dead bushes, put down mulch, and add some borders to the beds and driveway.

I just had a client get burned by a "Real estate specailized" bookkeeping firm because he was marketing himself as such- but reading his "about me" he had no formal tax/accounting background.