Obviously seasoned/local investors have an advantage here and can rapidly make offers.  

They tend to be the older parts of Vegas.  

The only point of Alexander's that I disagree on is that foreclosures come in the new neighborhoods as well as the older ones.

I'm accelerating some older mortgages in the 6%+ range because I have reserves and a fully-funded acquisition account in case an opportunity ever arises.  

Charlotte is a great market, and its real estate has been very good to us.Spend a lot of time on BP, this is a great resource for newbies as well as seasoned investors, and please reach out to me if you have any questions.Welcome to BP.

Apartment finding in San Marcos is seasonal so you can devote some of your off season time to getting your feet wet in traditional real estate. 

For my wife and I the key frugality has been:-we drive inexpensive cars (Yaris, Escape, both older and used)-RARELY eat out at restaurants-one vacation per year- and it's camping within a day's drive from home (and we already have the gear)-small affordable home (bought in 2012 at the bottom of the market- that was just lucky timing)-0 use of credit cards-and hard work to boost earnings That last one isn't so much frugality- but has been the biggest key to saving for us.

There are systems now that look like the older tankless hot water units which are actually high efficiecy units which provide both hot water and heat for the house.

This is a very tough season for finding tenants.

If you rent out your current duplex for 1-2 years, the property will be considered "seasoned" so you can count a certain percentage of the rental income as income when applying for your second mortgage (plus whatever equity you have in the duplex).