There are a few funds that invest in notes, which offers good downside protection due to the discount the fund is able to buy the note at relative to the properties value.

My 3 biggest houses have 2 washers and 2-3 dryers in them. 

But my biggest fear was starting out; taking out a loan or using savings for the initial investment, and hoping that everything works out.

   #3  Quality of tenants :  One of the biggest way to lose money is have bad tenants.  

I guess the biggest question I would ask is "Why are you asking here, instead of getting solid legal advice for the attorney you want to partner with?"

The biggest challenge we've faced by far is educating contractors - first you need to find contractors willing to be educated, then you need to be prepared to pay more during the first couple of projects while they become proficient with their new knowledge.We have yet to produce a retrofit meeting all EnerPHit criteria, but we are getting a little closer each time.

Biggest thing is finding value add deal.in b or b+ area I am looking at West side from long time but could not find where I can do value add.

Investors - what are some of the downsides to working in a market far away from the one you live?

Downsides are you will have naturally high turnover and must account for the costs involved in those frequent turns - I did not factor this in when I first started.  

The biggest difference would be time obviously because it will in fact take me a while for a full 20%.