Is waiting until I have finished creating my on-line presence (website and FB) the wrong way to go before I start marketing to motivated sellers and absentee owners.

We've got a strong Illinois presence here on BP, Chicago is a great market to be in right now!

What i see is a market with affordable entry points, military and college student presence, and appreciation in 4.5-7.5% in the few neighborhoods I've looked at.I'm hoping to get a snapshot of affordable props from a local pro as a jumping off point for more research.

As you can see, we definitely have a BIG presence in the Texas area.If you have any questions, just ask!

It's in a quiet area with good police presence.

Being a consistent presence will help in that regard.

I have all of these sites up when searching for 1-Local Realty MLS (local vs national also has cheaper deals) 2-Crime Reports (at my price point, i want ot make sure you're only choosing "safe" neighborhoods and most municipalities have some sort of online presence with 30-60 days of crime reports) 3-Rentometer (this is a pretty accurate rent aggregator to tell you the low/medium/high rents for that address 4- Craigslist to see what type of rental activity is listed there.4) While you're there, meet up with some turnkey managers and property managers.

It often doesn't seem to be practical to insist that the tenant complete the checklist in my presence at the very moment they move in.

Many people build solid portfolios with GREAT owner-occupied financing this way.We have a BIG presence in the Texas area and I'm sure you'll be able to network with lots of people if you stay engaged here on the forums.Good luck & see you around.

Leasing properties to a NP does not necessarily require me to have a long standing personal presence in that city/town.