Many times over 35 years I've thought, "You don't buy diamonds from a brick mason."

You not only have to find the "diamond in the rough", you have to polish it.

Many are now trapped from making other better investments that come along and can't dump off the property to get rid of it without a loss as the next investor wants it cheap to buy in those areas.So smart investors I know tend to buy run down properties in A to B areas to turn the property back into a diamond.

Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell  

Also highly recommend the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham (2nd meeting in Worcester).  

@Chad Baird my business partner @Duran Villegas and I have had good opportunities in the Memphis area - we certainly have to do our homework, but there are some diamonds in the rough. 

Pre-covid I was a Delta Diamond lvl Member.

If you haven't attended a real estate investor group such as the RI Real Estate Investor Group (http://rireig.com) or Black Diamond REI (blackdiamondrealestateinvestors.com) I'd recomend it.

With all the companies moving into the state and having cash on hand, its been interesting to find diamonds in the rough.

You're in the same area as I am so I would recommend the Black Diamond event in Waltham and the AREIA's.