But you will have a weapon and your opponent will too. 

I keep defensive weapons by the front door of some of my STRs for use by the tenants. 

Character and collateral are your two main weapons of safety for the private non advertising lender. for instance Beth who posted here is NOT a  private lender she is a Hard Money Lender as she holds herself out as a lender through blog posts BP and advertising of some manner.. 

I'm too old for this s**t like Danny Glover says in "Lethal Weapon" haha...Regarding the taxes, you can always check Zillow/Realtor to see how much you'll pay, some of the properties are not so bad...

I lost my secret weapons!

Saddam Hussein did have a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Jason invested with us in 2008 and he conveniently fails to include the following details in his posts, or self-righteous podcasts.

One may even say "Mondo Awesome" or "Righteous".

. $17k price point makes me think of a place that I wouldn't drive through without a weapon on my leg.

I spend my time on real estate taking the first actionable steps by reading books, blogs, watching youtube videos, listening to podcasts to educate myself, which builds confidence and the vocabulary to be able to have conversations with other investors who are already successful, think out side of the box, create opportunities, make deals and know what I'm doing and talking about...this is a key part of  your arsenal, and the more weapons you have at your disposal the better off you will be.