With proper marketing targeted at the areas you're infested in, you can probably find all the deals you can handle in Columbus.

My firm handles real estate and estate planning matters and we are located in the northwest suburbs. 

Anyone on the west coast have this issue or challenge? 

Many investors seem to take the approach that a PM is just an unnecessary added expense that they can handle themselves, but I know from experience that a great PM will usually rent your property more often, for more money...not to mention take the daily management grind off the owner's plate...freeing them up to do more deals!  

As I said, the seller is in a distressed situation and really pressed for the funds to take care of elderly parents, who are the original owners of the property.I was told by a reputable bank in my area that handles land lots loans, that I don’t have enough liquidity and I would need at least $100k in my bank account to move forward.

As I said, the seller is in a distressed situation and really pressed for the funds to take care of elderly parents, who are the original owners of the property.I was told by a reputable bank in my area that handles land lots loans, that I don’t have enough liquidity and I would need at least $100k in my bank account to move forward.

Wondering if we'd do better buying in an area we know well and just using a top notch management company to handle the properties.

That's not entirely different from other cities I suppose, but that hyper-localization can be challenging to get a grip on if you're used to different markets.

Maybe, I can raise upto $100k from friends, but need to have a good handle on the risk and margins.

What does a contract look like and who handles this?