Here are additional comments:1) Buying out of state removes any local knowledge you have from assisting in your success, including knowing areas, people and costs. - We always recommend buying your first rental locally if possible and DIY managing to learn as much as possible before investing OOS.2) Lots of crooks and incompetents in the PMC world:( They both cost you money.- As already stated, you'll have a small portfolio.

Sub to us a bigger deal than most people realize.

Call around and talk to a few people I'm pretty sure you will find someone who will make the time for you who can tell you pretty much on the phone if you could qualify and ballpark for how much. 

I think a lot of people like those on the Forum are entrepenurial thinkers and can design ok on their own, but of course there are some people who cannot design a doghouse and will need you for the whole project, lots of those folks out there..... :-)

I’ve been in this space for a long time, coaching and investing, and I love helping people get started.

Also--similar to apps like Facebook and Twitter--I can almost guarantee that a larger pool of people would seamlessly utilize their phones to vote/like and comment on the forums. 

James and his people who manage the program are nice and give basic sales and negotiation advice but not much that moves the needle in any situation.

Generally larger commercial properties and shopping centers are easier to classify with hard and fast rules, but to the points above the residential areas really move very quickly and have way more nuance than most people care to admit.zip codes are generally way too large for my liking at least in my market to provide any kind of insights other than macro level economics but even then highways or rivers that cut through a zip code can end up with totally different trade areas.we can get pretty granular with cellphone data and with grocery center data to understand the trade areas and their true boundaries, but that kind of data pull is generally only cost effective for investors doing larger scale projects or developments, and honestly we still just end up getting on the ground and feeling it out, so I generally tell people that the money is better spent on a plane ticket and weekend trip in the area you are looking rather than any kind of "trade area" level data studies.and generally B class in 1 area means something different than another. 

>on top of dealing with insane lawyers and social workers who believe that less fortunate people can hurt wealthier people.   

It is big but I am hearing now people want dishwashers and w/d in units.