Makes sense, I appreciate the insight! 

Any insights please?

Thanks @Lisa Marie this is very insightful and helpful.  

There are other players in the game to compare with like Kenny Bedwell at STR Insights or Bill Faeth's coaching.

I really appreciate the insight here.

However, I don't find the long vacancy particularly enjoyable, and I'm hoping to gain some insight and grow from the experience.Has anyone else experienced this, and what did you do to avoid it?

@Scott Trench appreciate your insight and perspective!

Would love to connect with you if you be willing to share some insight into Central PA. 

Managing a property hours away can be challenging if any issues arise, but having a third-party property management company could help handle those situations and make things more manageable.I think you are in the right place to gain some insight on what would make you successful. 

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.