I can name several different areas I would invest $100k but it will probably not match your goals, as some of the others have stated above.PS: I should have put $100k on U-Con Men's Basketball to win the NCAA Championship.. 100 to 1 odds..

I wonder if this brings intense competition because of the very small dollars and bar to entry.

Oftentimes, these properties just need to be given an intense marketing campaign to get as many qualified tenants as possible interested.

Besides living in LA county, I have been studying the LA market fairly intensively since the beginning of the year and I think it would be great if we could get together and share info.

@Karen Margrave Those are indeed intense challenges to deal with, more like a horror story, especially dealing with the lawsuit.

I am a high school counselor/basketball coach.

I would assume that it is very work intensive / time consuming?

You will have a day JOB so no RE investing that is time intensive.

Both will be dealing with the same tenant pool for all intensive purposes in poor areas.Show me a $35k home in a decent area with a respectable tenant pool and i've got a bridge to sell you.$12k is not enough to get involved in RE for an out of state/country for numerous reasons (cash reserves, applicable cities, etc) unless you are a real risk taker and want to deal with poor out of work tenants who work the system.

On my own properties that are local I have a best friend that manages them for me.He lives in one of the units for the apartment building and is onsite.Depending on size,age,and location of the property will determine how intensive the management will be.At first I had to spend 3 to 4 days a week training him and processes to follow.Now I go 2 times a week and will eventually get to checking in once a week.Write down questions you think of between calls or visits so that you stay on track in the meeting and don't forget the questions trying to keep them all in your head. 2.Are you focused too much on the management fee and hiring a broker/agent "who does this on the side for extra cash".You would be surprised at how many think because they have a brokers or agents license that management is easy.Many people can screw it up but few can do it correctly.I don't like the doing it on the side thing because as soon as sales start happening their interests shift from YOUR property to closing more sales.3.Are you using a professional management company that all they do is property management??