Consider Lowell as an opportunity.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Most of my turn key guys that tried rental Guarantees and maintenance ended up not liking it.

You have multiple choices.But a key question is "is there a mortgage on the property".

The key is to be consistent about it and make offers everday.

This still has it's own barriers since title is encumbered and the sale will need to deliver clear and marketable title to a new buyer.When Bankruptcy is filed an automatic stay of collection occurs for all creditors, secured and unsecured and the borrower is protected under Bankruptcy law during the BK plan.

Yes, much has been written about option deals here, probably too much (LOL) but just search and do some reading or wait, I think several have Lease Option as key word alerts and they should be swarming soon.

There are some great emerging markets in your area.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

In many states dual agency is not even allowed by law.A broker or agent in many cases can still get the whole commission by having the seller or buyer as the client and having the other party as the customer performing "ministerial acts" only for them.Ministerial acts for example can be filling out a contract but not answering questions from the customer on what's the lowest they will accept and other key data the seller might have given in a client capacity.

You have some great areas selected.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

David- I work almost exclusively with investors, and the key is to compartmentalize your client base into different niches.