@Jacob Holth - Before looking at a deal, for how long do you follow jobs, migration and development of your city or state?

I shall keep an eye out for what develops with your plan.

@Nick Ragucci I would suggest developing a relationship with an attorney.

I tend to agree with this statement and have been successful in helping companies identify their profit producing activities and then create systems and processes to make those easier. 

I invested $ 165K from IRA to buy a lot and develop it into a building.  

Other than that, in general terms, you need to learn 3 things:1 - How to analyze Markets...not properties2 - How money works3 - How to develop, and stick to, a REI Business planAll three are critical to your success, and all three are equally important, and in fact, depend on eachother.

You could also make an argument that out of state investing forces you to develop the system and network from Day 1 that will move you closer to passive investing than if you invested down the street. 

My plan would be to identify zip-codes with most cash transactions in markets with median home price at or below 320K, then mail at least 1K post cards every week for about 6-7 weeks.

MWC is definitely heating up (major development going on on 15th and sooner currently), but there are def. still deals to be made there. what is your strategy?

we discovered that there is a major structural issue that was identified in 2009 and has not yet been fixed.