If you strictly look at the numbers, you will notice that higher cash-flow properties will put you in low end neighborhoods, and the cash-flow is horrible in nice neighborhoods.

But, it wasn't so horrible that I decided to give up real estate investing completely.  

These loans can be harder to get because they have stricter requirements, but having a co-signor is a great idea.I disagree with Steven that lease to own is a horrible way to buy, I bought my first home on a lease to own and then got financing after 3 months and made over $80,000 when I sold it 3 times on lease option.  

In high school my grades were horrible, but ever since college I have finally realized how much I could learn if I actually applied myself.

Recent flood insurance legislation has me thinking that is a horrible idea right now as I think there will be major changes.

However if Detroit continues to decline you longer term return could be horrible.

Property management has the potential to run the gamut from easy (with amazing tenants) to a complete nightmare (with horrible tenants), and that spectrum of difficulty often ties directly to time.

The result: in 8 years we basically broke even.. but that was a result of some poor, uninformed choices on our part, as well as horrible market timing.Madison is just one of the areas we're considering in WI... primarily for the chance at better (positive) cash flows and lower cost of entry.  

We are now slowly repairing everything to bring it back to its former condition.This was a pretty horrible experience for first time landlords.

Excellent Advice.I consider myself a good to great realtor for people looking to buy retail home.I consider myself a horrible realtor for investors....