I would also highly recommend flying out to visit.

Back in '89 when Russia opened up,  my son wanted to join his class and visit St Petersburg - - and of course came to dad for support.In an effort to be supportive and yet to teach the value of assets, I asked him when he was going to make some progress on restoring the '57 Belair in the driveway. 

utm_source=search&utm_medium=internal&utm_campaign=books (books recommended by BPers)Before making your 1st REI purchase please visit the link below for some useful tipshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/12/19/real-estate-investing-success-smart-tips/Simply, bone up on the areas that you need to expand knowledge in such as, Forums, Marketplace, Learn, Network, Analyze and Resources.Continue to feast on the Podcasts, #askbp Podcasts, blogs and webinars Lastly, this site thrives on interactions and as such we encourage two way exchanges and look forward to educational and thought provoking ideas relevant to REI.

I'm not sure if I'll be visiting Cebu this time though.

I do a quick search of houses on the MLS, Craigslist, Hudhomestore.com, auction.com and another auction website I visit daily.

I would be very interested in building my own NoSQL database to track things like website visits to our page, user-experience on our site, and then building out databases of inspection reports and videos in the markets that I work the most as a realtor.

Your time here will be well spent.Since you mentioned an interest in wholesaling, I added a gude and podcast below to help fine tune your niche.https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/01/31/ultimate-beginners-guide-real-estate-wholesaling-2/ (Ultimate beginners guide to wholesaling)https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/10/31/wholesaling-podcast-mike-nelson/ (BP Podcast 042 - wholesaling)Now that you have made the move, below are some links that will help with the navigation of the site. http://www.biggerpockets.com/startherehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/meetSetting up Keyword AlertsHow to Use @Mentions on BiggerPocketshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/ruleshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/inviteshttps://www.udemy.com/biggerpockets-real-estate-investing-course/ (video with 64 lectures and approx 6hrs of material)https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing (Ultimate beginner's guide to REI)Before your 1st purchase, please ensure you visit the below link for some tips.https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/12/19/real-estate-investing-success-smart-tips/REI books suggested by BPershttps://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/11/13/7-real-estate-books-beginner-investors/ (7 absolute must read books for beginner REIs)http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/?

If you can, visit the property both in the daytime and at night.

I feel the same, I've had people call me for real-estate (clients that have turned into friends) as well as others into rehab that just want to get an idea of what it's like and visit properties

I took this photo myself from his living room whence visiting him in Philly with my daughter and family.Point of all this is that now that he has retired and gone on to become a sports broadcaster he has yet to sell any of the properties he purchased and refurbished/remodeled.