I found myself in a similar position to you about 10 years ago.

The right attorney on their side can put you in a position with legal fees and everything else until you are just forced to settle.

Here is a recommendation I have for you as you begin to figure out what area you want to invest in.This website is a great reference point for figuring out what each area is like. https://www.areavibes.com/It gives you a total LIVABILITY score for each street and zip code & discusses crime rate, schoolsUse this rating and classification system I have created over time to get an idea of the "Class" for the area - A class B class & so onHere is my rating & classification for each livability score.80 and above A+78/79 A76/77 A-74/75 B+72/73 B70/71 B-68/69 C+66/67 C64/65 C-60/63 D59 and below FBest of luck and let me know if I can help answer any questions! 

congrats my friendHere is one piece of advice I have for you:As you attempt to find what area to invest in, use this website https://www.areavibes.com/Its a great resource and starting point for what an area might look like and it has something called a "livability score".

I plan on getting a property every year until I retire if I can find a good deal that cash flows positively.

The work around is part of the application process is to tour the property, but still, why put yourself in that position?

Something that is increasingly important to those clients is being cash flow positive from day 1 and this is what we deliver.

For us, we only call people who have subscribed through our website and completed a form online.

You MUST understand this as the suburbs are usually much nicer than the city.All of these challenges are why we have a map of Metro Detroit on our website with the cities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties listed, as well as 183 Neighborhoods in Detroit.The majority of the 48235 zip code is Class C, the question is, do you understand what that means?

Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.