You will ask better quality of questions if your in motion.The reason most paid mentorship fails and is a waste of money is its very difficult to steer a parked car.Create your own "paid mentorship" find deals and get paid while your learning.Sorry for the ramble...hope this helps someone, if not .....too bad, it helped me to write it :-)

I'm trying to steer clear of that.

They seldom steer you wrong so build your network through their referrals.Another way to save money is to begin getting familiar with local suppliers of all types of construction materials.

So that's were you get the steering of escrow.So you take that combination and you take a hot market were your buyer really wants that lovely house and the last thing they are going to do is rock the boat by trying to change title companies that the seller has requested.

What you've done can be considered steering or redlining.

Cleveland gets a bad rap from experts who have never invested here or given it more than a passing glance.Yes, you can have a terrible time if you get sucked in by the astronomical cap rates advertised on some of these deals - those are in the worst neighborhoods and you should steer clear.However, there are tons of great affordable properties in the B/C+ class that are much more stable and still offer good cashflow.

They are selling a lot of "slabs" in Gatlinburg: the remaining foundation of the cabins that burnt down for good prices, but I would steer clear.  

Any recommendations on areas to steer clear from?

If you ask them to do something that is illegal for them to do or that is unethical, they may steer you in the right direction, but it also tells them things that they may not want to work with you.

@Mike Hartzog , you addressed my primary concern very clearly:  how do I steer of trouble.