Hi Garry,To ensure your safety, it is highly recommended to visit areavibes.com and select the "See more crime data" option.

Unfortunately, relying on a "nice card" approach doesn't always ensure that tenants will vacate the property in good condition.

I generally recommend if you're not going to buy a property in the city/market where you currently live, the next best place to look is where you have family (and presumably a place that you'll visit relatively often and easily).What is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper", assuming you buy in Peoria or a similar priced Midwest market?

The average rental home price I am looking at is between $175K and $250K for a 3 bedroom house that requires minimal work in a nice neighborhood. 

It is a nice safe long-term spot if you're approaching it with a more long-term traditional real estate mindset.  

So, when we chat about different Neighborhoods and properties, we're on the same page.References are nice, but why would they not screen the references first, making them useless?

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We've decided that we'll likely look for something somewhere in Guanacaste because we want beach AND proximity to airport (LIR).We go each August to visit her family. 

If possible, it's nice to find a vacant duplex so you can vet your own tenants since you'll be living there 

I checked the Better Business Bureau for complaints, I checked the NJ State Attorney General consumer division to ensure he was licensed, I checked every reference he gave by visiting sites and speaking with the homeowners.