Now Santa Clara Country cites a violation and requires to rebuild the garage based on current building codes and leaves us only 25 days to complete the work.

Greetings always interesting to hear what neighbouring countries are dding real estate wise.

There are probably a couple thousand conversations about TurnKey properties on BiggerPockets at this point - lots of good info being rehashed here, but I'd think really hard about why you would rather buy a cheap house on the opposite side of the country than a slightly more expensive one within driving distance of your house. 

I'm going to be a data geek here -- have you guys seen any sort of 'gentrification index' to compare how much gentrification is going on in different neighborhoods across the country?

I'm a complete newbie to the real estate game, who dreams of starting my own residential real estate empire, buying and holding homes across the country in consistent markets to generate passive income in order to be my own boss. 

It does not matter to me one bit if they are working in this market or elsewhere in the country, I simply want to learn and be exposed to the highs and lows of the business. 

We have worked in many cities in this Chicago area Maywood, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Country Club Hills, Illinois Zion, Illinois Aurora, Illinois McHenry, Illinois Bellwood, Illinois Winthrop harbor, Illinois Crystal Lake, Illinois Libertyville, Illinois Northlake, Illinois Gary, Indiana Hammond, Indiana Munster, Indiana Dyer, Indiana Griffith, Indiana Valparaiso, Indiana Merrillville, Indiana Crown Point, Indiana Hobart, Indiana East Chicago, Indiana 

Thank you both : )Matt - For a foreigner it is very hard to choose an area, especially in a country that New York alone is bigger than my own country LOLIf for example I want to choose an area in my country, it will still be easier even if I'm not familiar with real estate and even if I didn't visit it all (I didn't see most of my country :) ), because I know the language, the people, the rules (!!)

It can also be safer to diversify your investment properties across the country. 

This property is in the country.