Link is herehttps://www.meetup.com/Houston-Beginner-Real-Estat...Linda will give you a tour of the place and what's it about without the bs.

I plan to move back to the West Coast (San Diego) for my next tour and would love to meet some local PC investors to partner with so I can continue investing in this area when I transfer.

So we got busy figuring out what to do to buy a lot of houses, which we did for the length of the tour.  

Recently, I’ve started to view my 15-mile training runs through nearby neighborhoods as a sort of prospecting method —a foot tour of sorts— helping me determine neighborhoods I might be interested in investing in.My goal with Bigger Pockets is simple — I hope to learn from other investors within the community, leverage the tools and resources to improve my ability analyze potential deals (to help my 40-something-year-old-self gain the confidence to do what my 20 something-year-old-self knew was possible long ago) and contribute to the community where I can with the experience I have.  

It's called Real Estate Investors' Hard Hat Tours.

Pick your market - then fly there on "a three hour tour, a three hour tour".

Other things to look for in either scenario, but potentially even more so for flipping, are things like the walkability of the area (can people walk to things like bars, restaurants, coffee, school, is it very hilly or is it a pleasant stroll), ratio of owner/occupants to renters in the area (people like to buy where everyone else buys, not in high rental areas), street noise (people like to have easy access to the highway, not be underneath it), etc.Of course, while internet research is hugely beneficial, a great way to know if a property is a good bet is to visit it and tour the town yourself.

Personally I would tour the property with a plumber or contractor before putting in your offer and get an estimate from a pro.

.* Guru's Seminars;  OK they put you on a bus, give you the big tour of some parks, and hand you course-ware, some good some not so good you'll also get some entitled Mentorship Program were you'll discuss leads with your mentor ( who is really a guru competitor, if you get the drift. ) then suddenly your opportunity is gone. 

After a tour in Fallujah with the Marines I needed a change of pace and moved to Austin to start a business which I was able to sell (there's an NDA involved, so I won't go into too much detail) for enough money to buy a house that was way too large for me.