For buy and holds, I would suggest areas such as Ybor City, Tampa Heights, & South Tampa.Ybor seems to be very attractive for buy & hold investors.

I have no intention of going because I have a feeling it is nothing but an infomercial with a timeshare-style sales pitch.I believe real estate is attractive to the "get rich quick" mindset because everyone is familiar with a house.

It brings outside tourists in and contributes on that front of the local economy.A local side of it is that a lot of units and properties are being taken off the market from long term residents. 

So my thinking on why I can make it cash-flow positive is two-fold:  1) Start using a service that passes the cleaning fee on to the renter (like Airbnb), and most importantly, 2) update the cottage with modern finishes and décor where the new, professional pics will attract a much higher occupancy rate. 

Just completed a Airbnb conversion where I took a small 600 sq ft 2 bed / 1 bath student rental and went through it top to bottom to get the finishes up to a level where it would make an attractive airbnb for short term tenants coming predominantly from the University of Illinois (UIUC) which is 2 blocks away. 

Tourists do come year round, but it helps to have a couple of other sources for renters.

The purchase prices are attractive, and they wouldn't be hard to cash-flow, but there are risks that come with that reward.

Or “this property is cabin-style which is more attractive than its drywall-based neighbor”.

When you show desperation you will not be attractive.

They think their house is worth more than the 3 most desperate realtors would price it at.They attract buyer's looking for a bargain price.There is no common ground.What they don't understand is that as a Buyer why would you not be represented by an agent: who listens to their needs, suggests neighborhoods, finds them the best lender, makes appointments, drives them around, takes them out for lunch, consults them and provides CMAs, writes up the offers, knows the best home inspector and coordinates the inspections, appraisals, works with lender and tirle company, negotiates repairs, reviews everything and makes sure all i's and t's are crossed and dotted, set's up closing and brings a bottle of wine - FOR FREE!