You will meet people from different walks of life that will give you different perspectives on real estate investing.

analyze markets by going to them and walking around. analyze properties by going to REIA meetings and asking the other investors what they're buying. 

Downtown exploded with 30 story Towers as the Mayor did all she could to turn that into a Concrete Jungle where everybody can work online from their expensive apartments and walk to all the stores and fancy restaurants.

Go to the local real estate events in these areas, drive/walk the streets, find a local real estate agent who invests in the area or works with investors in the area, and then go from there! 

Charles Scheib is a local lender in the Toledo area and he was able to walk through the process for financing.

Hop on plane, walk the props with your GC.

Primary bedroom with a walk-in closet and dressing area.

So I had to look at it as kind of walking into a ready-made business in a sense and the challenge is more so getting a steady stream of bookings after the builder/renter is out.

The seller is walking away with 10k of their original 80k investment (assuming 20% of 400k)? 

Walk around Home Depot; it is not inexpensive to rehab properties.