The flippers in my area who are most successful are also very experienced.

This sets you up for succession planning as well, if you ever wanted to sell the gas station operations but maintain the real estate for the passive income that sets you up to do so easily.

It sounds like you are already having success with them.

Glad to hear you're having success with those software. 

I have friends invested in all different parts of Philly, most with good to great success (good prices, low taxes), but you really have to do A LOT of due diligence and I would not be buying from a wholesaler or a company like New Western if you are new.

Simple enough.What makes it unique is that we have operated a profitable and successful business out of our home for nearly 4 years as a highly booked Hostel and event space + potential urban market farm.

Rent increases might have been tough, will be interesting to hear of your success here about raising rents.   

Without the judicious use of leverage (debt), success in real estate investing is severely limited, especially when the investor has limited capital to work with.If you’re looking for 8% ROI with little - moderate risk, no leverage is necessary.  

In my opinion, that is really the only way that I think investing out of the country can be done successfully.

Practice makes perfect, and stay curious for success in the real estate investing world.Good luck!