and I cant even imagine living in that area if your not from there ..  . the cops flat out wont even go there even if you call 911.. it basically lawlessThe level of  violent crime  in Chicago was very difficult to achieve and literally billions of tax dollars have been deployed over decades and decades and generations upon generations,  in order to achieve this level of ongoing success.

I know some pretty talented land investors who also have the ability to deploy their own farming operations to get value out of tillable acres, and as a newly minted real estate agent in IL, I'm hoping to invest along with them on the next couple of pieces.We also have a system to optimize and better position land to extract maximum value. 

At least then you're stating that you're someone that has closed on a property, has money to deploy, and you know what you're looking. 

Then when you are ready to buy that money will be ready to deploy without having it tied up in your mortgage.

We're just saying that it's not the only way, and often times isn't the most intelligent way to deploy capital depending on everyone's unique situations. 

- any other thoughts on where we may be better able to deploy our cash for this purpose?

So here I am a year later, in between jobs (was supposed to deploy, mission shifted, blah blah) so I'm back in my home town where I wanted to invest.

Still the same zip code but slightly outside the "place to be".With that being said it really comes down to what you are willing to accept as your return on the capital you deployed. 

If you have more money to deploy than you have ability to find good 30% ROI-type properties then you need to find a way to scale up better.

Many home inspectors deploy radon test units also.