The best resource I found that gave me some great insight into the Longview market was this book that was recently written by @Michele Fischerhttp://www.amazon.com/Collecting-Rent-Investing-Landlording-Neighborhoods-ebook/dp/B00GWXW214/ref=sr_1_5?

So far, I've bought books, e-books, and 2 courses already.

Search for real estate ebooks. there are tons that are freely given.

Look for those that Have skin in the game do not fall into the trap of working with West coast marketing agents that own nothing and only make a commission selling you some dog in the mid west  or rust belt.I wrote an e book on how to deal with TK companies and out of state investing if you e mail me I will send you a copy its free and non biased as I have nothing to sell .Anytime you get on BP and say you have 250k to invest you will be hounded... tread carefully and in my opinion only invest with those that have deep track records as @Brian Burke mentioned or those with deep experience as @Joel Owens mentioned  as for SFR's @Sharad M. has a lot of experience and you can buy direct from him not through west coast middlemen that will take a huge cut off the top.

For example - this was more or less my plan, which I turned into an eBook for my old blog. 7 Years to 7 Figure WealthAnd I definitely think treating your business like a business is the ONLY way to go.

I also recommend BP's podcasts and the other books that BP puts out like Real Estate Rewind [A BiggerPockets Community Book] and BiggerPockets Presents: Diary of a New Construction Project Ebook.  

I wrote an e book on the do's and don'ts of out of state or country investing .. happy to forward it to you if you like.. will give you some good tips  based on my 20 years of lending in the space and owning over 350 Mid west cash flow homes.

You don't have to have a Phd, but seek a professional education along conventional means, not just tapes and e-books from who really knows who they are!

Hi Lyonel, To answer your question, I purchased Nick's ebook a few weeks back.

It is completely ineffective unless you are selling useless digital products (like e-books).