The cash flow on the house is basically neutral right now. 

This is someone with a neutral point of view. 

there are just as many loan scammers trolling BP as craiglist and facebook.OP  just don't give them any money up front.. open escrow with your attorney ( if its an attorney closing state) and let the lender bring his funds in to escrow.. the lender should prepare his own note and DT or mortgage or the lawyer should.. you can talk terms.. but just don't pass him or them any money and make sure it all goes through neutral escrow..

In that case the agent should stay neutral to both their clients and act as a transaction broker (this is at least the case in CO, your state laws may differ).

If you can even get it to cash flow neutral, at least you can hang onto the property indefinitely and if the market did take a downturn you could ride it out.

If you want to work an emerging market play, you want to: 1)  find the fringe of the good and the bad. 2)  buy a property among a  group of other landlords who support revitalization OR are neutral on the topic. 3) implement the best practices for revitalization in the correct order.

You got some good inputs from BPers on how to spend $2,500 to get your REI business out of neutral and into gear.However, below are some links to get your REI education started, as that's definitely needed to get your business up and running quickly.Your time here will be well spent. 

I own a condo in Midtown with a decent amount of equity built up that is cash-flow neutral.

Or at best, "dual agency" or "transaction brokerage" (your state laws may vary) - so if a broker that gets 10 - 12 listings from a bank - all of a sudden (if you have that listing broker OR SOMEONE THAT WORKS FOR THEM, write the contract) - they are then magically supposed to become "neutral" - I don't see in the real world how that happens!

I'm an absentee landlord wanting to know what others think about the marketplace.Good/Bad/Neutral/Highs/LowsThanks, Karen