If you plan to manage remotely, then find a good PM or have a trusted team that can inspect your property regularly - and be ready to pay them.

They're the ones working with those agencies on a regular basis and have the best referrals.As far as recovering the debt, try leveling with the tenant as much as possible so they grasp the seriousness of being sent to collections.

So the duplexes are in more quiet secluded areas and rent to more of your regular 9-5 workers there are more than people think but not much for sale. 

On paper the cheap houses look great, but the reality is they are harder to manage, have higher turn over and cost a lot more time and money.Buying before you retire is a good idea because once you retire, your ability to borrow money is going to decrease as you don't have a regular income from a job.As you want to fix houses up, why not buy a house that needs a bit of work, live in it while doing the renos and then move when you sell it. 

Hi Alex, I believe there is a Pittsburgh group that meets regularly but I would love to attend another gathering as long as time/place works.

It’s more of a solution for owners who need liquidity but don’t want to sell their property outright, interacting with  advisers, agents, and other related people that are expensive and may be hard to connect with, or take on additional debt, including such debt like loans from banks and offline interactions, which require valuable time.

They have to keep nose clean, there now in the system, tax's and all regular everything.

Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books on this topic, or you can learn about it by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum.

I love audio books and listen to them regularly when doing mindless work tasks or on walks.

Saying things like "breach of contact", always an unpleasant interaction with him for about the past 6 months, him fishing/hoping about if there are money troubles.