Lastly, prior landlord references is key, you want to chat with the last two or three landlords, not just the last one since they are incentivized to get rid of bad tenants. 

I have access to some great resources, been researching, decided my market ( absentee to begin) even hv skip traced last night.

You can request to join the facebook group here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/RREEGThere is also a monthly meetup at The Green Goat on the on the last Thursday of every month at 6:00.

You may support your retirement dreams and financial objectives by building a profitable and long-lasting real estate portfolio with careful preparation and commitment.Good luck!

I have 140k gross income last year, no other debts, first time home buyer.

(I don't know why I can't tag either of you... grr)  Until last week I lived in Los Angeles, and it was no trouble at all to run them from there while working my 16 hour/day day job.  

I was there last week and see the city seems to be getting aggressive tearing down some of the old houses and getting the lots cleaned up. 

No investor is going to control anything, but they might make a positive impression.

The property appreciate rapidly over the last few years.

This generally works and lasts a long time, but I have one unit that poses a bit of a predicament:I acquired the property a couple years ago, but the current tenants have been there for 6 years.