My suggestion is to study first the numbers / cities / markets and once you know your zones / cities of interest, look for people who can help you locally.

I’d suggest reaching out to some local agents in the area.

The heck with all these suggestions.

I suggest focusing on building your "Core 4" team—agent, lender (one who can finance both the purchase/rehab and refinance is ideal), contractor, and property manager.

Alot of unknowns as you don't have the ability to walk the property beforehand, but interesting process, and pretty good deals exist there.While the Trustee Sales are cash purchases, there are many hard money options that can turn over the funds in time for the 24 hour funding required to complete the purchase.If you are interested, let me know and I can go into more detail, as well as make some other suggestions for you to consider. 

The work together with appreciation suggest that I will now be somewhere between 20 to 25% equity.

Study the market.

Hi Stephen, I would suggest reading as much as you can and connecting with people in the industry.

I’d suggest starting with local credit unions or community banks—they’re often more flexible with investment properties.

A lot of suggestions here are very confrontational.