Scheduling coffee/lunch with local folks from #2 above and with my handful of friends who work in real estate to build relationships and explore partnering (other investors, contractors, etc.)Since I love RE investing, this is really fun and doesn't feel like work!

A combination of being out of state (although I will be relocating to Memphis to stabilize the properties), being out of Fanny slots, being 99% cash flow focused (looking for 25-30 amortization not 15), and dealing with asset prices from 40-60k make this pretty difficult.I spoke with a lady at a local bank in Memphis yesterday and she suggested something I hadn't thought of.  

As much as I love real estate investing (and I do), managing is the worst part.

I have to disagree with @Bob Bowling The Dog Lover!

A skillful investor can hedge risk in either activity, but it is hard to control things like interest rates and whether or not the government decides to issue tax credits for buying at certain time slots.

If you love real estate then invest in an index fund like VNQ.

I still love real estate and don't mind being a landlord, but it is getting very difficult for me to find a property that meets my criteria nowadays.Thanks again for the feedback !!!

While that isn't always easy, in real estate operations and dealings, it is easy......just understand, it's not easy.Find your buyers first, then you could go through lists, mail for interest in selling, if they are, match what they have to your customer's needs, if you have a hit, go talk to them, if they don't meet buyer's needs, put them in a slot for future contacts when you find a buyer interested in that type of property.

I LOVE real estate and LOVE the fact that other people want to jump in.

In my experience I've paid for gurus and they told me to cold call sellers and surprisingly it actually worked had 3 contracts from doing this but I couldn't take advantage of this because i wasn't prepared.But I can say is the longer i spent on the phone the better this is one of the reason I LOVE REAL ESTATE I LOVE talking to sellers learning about them, how they got into their situation and I being able to solve their problem.