Mainly, I'm looking at areas where I spend a decent amount of time due to visiting family.At the moment, I'm looking at West Missouri (closer to Kansas City), Atlanta, and North Alabama.

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Search the city of Cleveland's website Waste Collection and Disposal Department & you'll see that everything is very clearly spelled out. 

I visited my dad in my hometown of Fort Wayne, IN this weekend, while also having an appointment to check out a SFR on the market.

Why don't you move there and visit (what you'd be leaving in) Willits after you're set up?

What are some good questions to ask when visiting brokerages because I know a lot of brokerage are trying to get you in the door to recruit for them?

Should be able to find their website or realtor can look up their contact info.

After some research and lurking on the BiggerPockets website, I decided that I want to get involved with real estate investing as soon as possible. 

.), "A" rating on BBB (although 80% of the comments left for caliber on the BBB website are negative, apparently customer comments are not taken into consideration for BBB ratings), and a 4.5 star rating on consumer affairs.I know when it comes to online reviews, people are a lot more apt to writing a negative review when something goes wrong versus a positive one when everything goes as expected. 

Search for properties on the MLS, most real estate agent's websites list all available properties on the Gulf Coast.