I'm biased towards Milwaukee and Madison because I live here but these cities have great rental markets as well, if you're willing to consider Wisconsin I'd recommend you look at Waukesha, WI - in between Milwaukee and Madison, low crime, and great occupancy rates.First, I'd visit some of these markets to see where you'd like to live.

I would recommend finding a tenant for at least one of the units, more than likely the one you lived in.

I recommend reading his books and then reading Thomas J Anderson who gives an opposing side about the use of debt appropriately.  

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

@Yixuan Du I would recommend going to local Real Estate Investor meet ups in your market to meet like minded individuals like yourself who have already done what you want to do.

Of course, many investors bend/break this rule, but that's another risk.2) If your bid wins the foreclosure auction, you then have to deal with getting rid of any occupants - who may steal/damage everything they can in retaliation:(3) You MUST have a great crew on the ground that can minimize surprises - not easy to do on your first deal.Regardless if you buy a foreclosure or other property, read our copy & paste advice below:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

If you're considering investing out of state, I highly recommend Kansas City.

Are there any books or resources you can recommend to get me started with the basics?

So I am looking for a change and a friend recommended Appleton, Wisconsin.

Do you have any you'd recommend?