From what I know now as a real estate investor, I find it incredibly risky to invest out of state.

Yes I’m looking for small multi family duplex to quad  that is livable for the moment if tenants are in there that I can potentially fix up to raise rents to market and therefore I can refinance pull my money back out to reuse.

The worst thing here is people who he recently took money from - yes some people are still being conned out of their money - lost it all to the court.I can see him working on 4 houses at the moment, and each ia having work performed out of sequence with 3 of the 4 still having no front entrance door installed, but they have still finished the internal walls and laid the flooring.  

that can work temporarily with the fed rate running at 0 rate but the moment the wave changes we would see equity being wiped out. 

It’s always an honor to contribute to such an incredible platform that empowers investors to build wealth and take control of their financial futures. 

At first we thought he was just incredibly incompetent and over his head, and we wearily gave him some patience to get his act together all the while pressing him for at least partial payment.

I suggest you turn your moment into the best learning / earning moment.  

Banking relationships are incredibly important in this business, especially as you grow your business.  

You have an incredible background that sets you up well for what's ahead. 

It is growing and has an incredible job market; it is also pretty run down in many sections of the city.