As I saw my costs skyrocket (particularly taxes) I realized I was hurting myself, my income, and my business.

That may sound like a very elementary and silly question, but it’s more significant than you realize.

It is fun to see and more fun to realize they are much the same as the hundreds of residential homes I have worked on.George, if you like I could come over to help find your wallet but it will cost you some points on the back end.

I'm sure you'll soon realize that you can learn more here than from most paid courses :)Make sure to check out the podcasts, they are a gold mine of information. 

If you can afford a more costly property, you can realize a much greater cash flow, wind up with better tenants, a better property realizing more appreciation, and have an easier time renting.I have some leads on some quadplexes, and duplexes in the Tampa Area, if anyone is interested.

I got the real estate bug a few years ago when I was a recruiter for a real estate broker, I know there is a lot of money to be made in this business, and the opportunity to help people realize their dreams.

Finally I learned more about it and realized that it's just a lack of education.So to answer your question, if you are in an area that really doesn't allow for cash flow, my assumption is usually one of two things: 1. the owner bought the property decades ago when it was cheaper (whether they meant to or not or even knew what they were doing), or 2. they are losing money at a decent speed.Although, with all of that said, the 1 and 2% rules are much harder to come by these days than they were even 2 or so years ago. 2% is pretty much out of the question unless you buy in the ghetto, but 1% is still decently doable in a lot of markets.

Without knowing your family member, and realizing I am going to probably sound cynical and paranoid, I suspect it is more likely that he found that there wasn't any market to develop that additional property in a rural area and that's why he didn't do it, or he couldn't find a bank or investor willing to fund such an endeavor. 

Like @Daniel Ryu I also invested in Jacksonville from afar but realized it was a much better market than the Bay Area,  at least for my investing strategy  so I decided to make the move  and now I am about to purchase my 7th property. 

Then quickly realizing that's not what "real estate" is, I started wholesaling.