As a fellow Capital Region investor, the Saratoga lake market doesn’t have opportunities often and if it is something that you are going to keep and use for personal use there is value in that. 

Filters I'd recommend:Equity, no reason to waste your time on properties folks can't sell at a reasonable priceProperty Type, most folks stick to residential, and often just single family homesEstimated Value, stick to a price range you can afford, and/or for which there is demand if you plan to flip or rentLocation, this is best way to control size of your list.

I own a less expensive property in a C/C- area, and "less expensive" list price often means more expensive maintenance.

I bought my 3 buy and hold properties cash, the benefit is speed of closing, which often means a better price and beating out competition.

Financial professionals and, all too often, government leaders explain that we are doing things better than before, we are smarter, and we have learned from past mistakes.

I am currently looking to purchase my first rental property, and my agent sent me a list of tenant occupied homes for sale.

That said I often find the most likely place to unlock value is little old lady houses.

Throw in the fact that renting to a friend/family member often times ends up not working out and/or ruining the relationship, and I'd pass. 

What I have found is the national guys often don't have a good grip on local practices. 

Here's a similar question: what are the pros and cons of tenants?