(The one at my house is in a can in the front yard, which is currently covered with a protective layer of dirt and old leaves.

My opinion is to hold on to the property as long as you can.  In

I am not close to retirement age now and would like to think that by starting as soon as I can in real estate I will be better set up for retirement later down the line through real estate investing. 

If he can in fact create that kind of value add raising capital would not be an issue.

You may find that you can't get the cash flow you can in other cities in a short time period like that, and you may find that we are at the top of a cycle.

I started with absolutely nothing to start out with, no job, no cash, bad credit. but had I not started with that trial by fire I may not have become as rounded out (not a fat joke) an investor as I am today.

Because of that not-so-pretty picture most investors have in their mind, the first word that comes out of their mouths when they’re offered an investment in South LA is a big fat NO.

Try to add the futuristic lenses into your analysis whenever you can. In

Then go out and look at every property you can in those sub-markets, be it a listed property, a property for rent, a garage sale, estate sale, etc.

And the building rules are so strict you can't just destroy houses there to build a skyscraper (or anything else for that matter) like you can in Miami.Yet, as you suggested, you'll oftentimes have to deal with excruciating bureaucratic requirements and so you'll have to be hands on; it's not for everyone and everybody would be doing it if it was easy.