Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.PM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

We do not have serious floods, tornados, heavy snow and rain, frequent major hailstorms, big earthquakes, or extreme weather conditions.

The two strategies you outlined are extremely helpful to consider..

Just like our BANKERS validate and question our deal analysis, you need to be the BANKER.Majority of the Syndication failures going on right now are due to either Short-term financing used on longer term projects- in a period of extreme interest rate hikes, material Inflation, or Covid related supply chain or personnel issues.You as the BANKER, know that all of the above should have been covered by the Syndicator and by you the BANKER. 

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

So your tenant pool is extremely important if not the most important thing to look at when investing in NJ.

However, Northern Utah seems to me an extremely hot market right now, with deals closing before they can even hit the MLS.

Right now there are definitely more units available than average, but they aren't staying on the market for extremely long.

It's extremely frustrating but perhaps/hopefully it has made me a better investor? 

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.