Unfortunately for me I picked a poor time to finally set a moving date!

NO communicating with you, keep proceeds of rent, poor tenant management.....drinking, drugs........ over charging?

If it's the former getting your agent involved will be your best bet.

It is always sad to see the result of a poorly maintained and managed property.

I bet you can provide some great insight.

Like you as a mortgage underwriter, I have many years of experience being a professional supporting real estate investors as a CPA, but I now wanted to become a real estate investor myself.In late November of last year, like you're doing this November, I wrestled with the question of investing locally with a 4-unit purchased with FHA financing vs. investing out-of-state and got a lot of great advice.Like you, my goal is to retire within the next 10-15 years via real estate investing.As a result of some of the advice I've read through the forums (I would recommend you pay attention to guys who have been in real estate for decades like @Jay Hinrichs rather than the younger folks who are often just pushing their turnkey products) and speaking to investors at local real estate groups, I decided that given my place in life I would be wiser to place my bets on California appreciation over the next 20-30 years rather than investing in some beat-down property in Cleveland for an extra $400 or whatever in cash flow per month.Given the facts that (1) I could get into a property for a measly 3.5% down, which would free up cash to invest in other places if I so chose, (2) I was already throwing away rent every month such that I could still be cash flow negative of $650/month (what I was paying in rent) and still be better off because a portion of my monthly payment would be building my equity and the rest would be tax deductible, and (3) I'm in my 20s and have the time to take a long-term view of appreciation potential, it was a no-brainer to go the FHA 4-plex route in LA, despite the fact that it is one of the most expensive markets in the country.This isn't to say that the process was easy.  

Fix and flip will cause you a long time period to find a buyer willing to invest in a poor neighborhood. 

@Bill Gulley  the gps chip and disabling the car for non payment is used for Poor credit risk folks I know major car dealers who do this.. 

My daughter had the pleasure of taking over a 5-plex we found for her.All units were well below mkt rents in shabby condition, (hence the great price she got it) & one unit had been vacant for 3 years because of very poor PM.The intro letters went out & she quickly assessed who of the inherited tenants had to go.A year later she only has one of the inherited tenants left & after some rehab the rents for the new tenants have been increased significantly.

I know as many rich people as I do poor people.