I see landlords lose thousands, even tens of thousands, making rookie mistakes that they could have avoided with a little education up front.Once the first property is under contract, start again for the second.

Do you provide move in and move out reports How many pictures do you take of the property prior to tenant moves in and after the tenant moves outDo you get weekly reports when the property is vacant what prospective tenants are saying about your homeDo you provide monthly newsletters to your tenantsDo you hold investor education classes to help me become a better investorDo you have single point portfolio based management services?

The strategic location view is1) It is the USA of the middle east2) Very close and safe travel destinations for Europeans and Asians 3) Direct flights to every big city in the world London, Sydney, SF, LA, you name it4) Safe haven for lot of Internationally floating money 5) Good investments in tech, healthcare, infra and education. 

I obviously had not educated myself well before diving in. 

But these two live and work it and dont sell e ducation.

And DC is a haven for young highly educated would-be first time home buyers.

There are opinions on these forums and people have a right to them and people may take it as criticism. real estate is not a business where everyone is friendly and just as you have shown from whoever was trying to scam you and has nothing to do with doing your best, its about being educated before moving forward. 

Whether that is most contractors, hiring an engineer, or getting self-educated.

Get as educated as possible and also don't get paralyzed by information overload.

If you can find a current broker to bring you along that's likely best, but just going to events like that will show you the players in your market.