I just finished my first rental rehab in Baltimore and that's 16 miles from me but at times it could have a been a thousand miles away for the fact that issues crop up and you want to immediately jump on it but you can't when you are not there doing this full-time.   

Some from last year and others are miles away (over 1 mile), the year built also varies.

My tenants complained about her (this house was within 1/2 a mile from the police station) and the police never did a thing.

@Chad Michaels  what you describe 30k houses that are perfect and an agent who is going to do all this work is pure fantasy.. you may find those in little towns scattered about the mid west  you know little 5k towns 100 miles from a major metro area. but not in anykind of metro area those would all be urban core and would be the opposite you describe.as for new construction with no money no credit and no experience that too is a FULL blown pipe dream... only one with half a brain that would finance you on that is your  inner circle and family type of set up.100% JV deals are avalaible to those that as @Karen Margrave mentions those that bring something to the party...

I don't have a W-2 job, I drive my own vehicle, and at $.56 a mile, I make more in mileage so my P&L will always show a loss.

If you were to do a geographic search within 15 miles of the school you'd find a whole bunch of places that look great on paper - but upon further investigation  may fall in areas of Paterson and Lodi that tenants try to avoid.

Two things I consistently hear:1) It cost too much to move2) There is no land available within 50 miles of the metroplexI think there is a great opportunity if we can solve either of these and HUGE opportunity if we can solve both.

Perhaps if I did any real volume I'd stop going the extra mile...or not...I think that investors don't just care about return, they do business with people, and they watch those people and judge those people and I'm conscious of how I want to be judged by them.That said, I did have one house where after clearing it out the former owner's daughter showed up about a week into the project to pick up dad...whoops.

How can a condo association from 50 miles away have anything to do with a single family home?

@Jordan Parker - I've always found it best to spend a weekend driving around a 10 mile radius of where I currently live.