I'm aware of those scams and I verify all employment by looking up the employer and calling or visiting them (last one would be for an extreme case, calling and internet sluething is good enough).

I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

The cost of living is extremely low compared to other cities and you can still many many positive cash flowing and 1% deals here.

New Jersey gets a bad reputation because there are cities with extremely strict landlord laws, people invest in those areas thinking they are getting a good deal because the numbers "look good" on paper, long story short many of these areas are horrible places to invest with some of the strictest landlord laws in the world. 

Hey Daniel,I think it really depends on what your strategy is.If you are planning to pick the market, furnish and manage the property then education will be extremely beneficial.If you are partnering with an experienced agent/manager then a lot of the guesswork is taken out.I'm based out of central FL and have helped multiple Canadians purchase investments in FL.

In my experience, CPAs are extremely responsive in year 1, lag significantly but not alarmingly by year 2, and then respond only after a week between emails and 6 follow ups after year 3. 

It is extremely common for PM companies to accommodate for external contractors - as mentioned above, it is your property at the end of the day. 

It is very hard to tell if we are getting paid all we are due. (3) I have been told they are more setup to handle extremely low-income areas, which doesn’t exactly describe the properties we have.They have been so unbelievably incompetent on the whole, it has made my wife and I consider just selling our properties and getting out.

I could see investors flipping these properties but you'd have to push the market really hard or have extremely cheap labor costs (probably both).

James has time and time again always posted extremely helpful information on every post, he would be a great person to connect with.