It is always amazing to me to see the different styles, approaches, strategies and different markets and how they respond to how you succeed or fail (but always a success no matter how you look at it).  

I find the town to be much less commercial than Summit County, more family oriented I guess.

(sidenote: I get very annoyed by the contractors who wont give you the time of day/demand you name your first born after them during busy times but when the economy crashes they call you up begging you for work....I digress) The guy I met with was ready to go, had some great Ideas and our styles meshed well.

There are a variety of styles and depths.

I have provided turn key rentals for out of state investors but it is because they like many others like the passive investing style.

There are people with lots of different buying criteria, but I need to find the folks that match my style of what a good deal is, or spend a lot of time tryingbto adapt to their idea of what a good deal is. 

@Christian RuizI work with an Austin real estate investment brokerage, and while we typically work with off-market, investor-oriented properties, I believe that you can still find good deals in good locations to serve as a primary residence.

When I moved to Chicago I became quickly orientated with the CPS schools because I have a lot of clients with kids and they too want to live in areas of Chicago where the school ratings are high.

In general, check out Keller Ink...good series of instructional books you can use for life...have you narrowed down your focus...I read about 60 books a year, so I can give you a long list, but it may not apply to your investing style...What are some of your goals?

Baltimore is also very neighborhood oriented in terms of quality areas, so you need to drive your neighborhoods and know them pat before you consider buying in a specific hood.