For awhile Philadelphia was the best kept secret for a lot of NY investors but as of the last few years there has been a ton of NY money being dumped into philly, especially now because of the Rent control laws that passed here, but there are still deals out there. snap shot of philly - Steady population growth yr over yr - Steady job growth yr over yr - Diverse economy  ( top 3 health care, education & tourism )- Location...  2hrs from NYC "financial hub of the country" &  2(1/2) from Washington DC " the political of hub of the country.

Most large units in the USMC have billets for IMA Reservists and you have a lot more flexibility and control over your schedule.

Of course effort to network is within my control, but whether good connections result from the effort is not a guarantee.

I have a Wink 2 at the moment controlling the Sensi and the Schlage Smart Connect lock.

Airbnb's customer service (lack of) has gotten out of control.  

Unless you invest via an LLC owned by the IRA, you will not have checkbook control over the funds which means you need to run transactions (e.g. income, expenses, etc.) through the trust company who will need time to process the transactions and generally charge fees for each transaction.

If the HOA is efficient , then things work out fine , but if they are not  then you dont have too much control on the laws and covenants , monthly HOA dues may be high, assessments may keep coming up etc.Generally speaking like-for-like I prefer SFH to condos .

She had people there doing drugs and all these kids running and out of control .

This will require a lot of physical work to put in the water and septic systems, but cost can be controlled if you do it your self. 

Although there are circumstances going on at the moment that are out of anyone's control, generally, it's not difficult to avoid evictions; thoroughly screen, invest in a quality market and treat tenants like human beings.