@Matthew Greco @Ben LeybovichThe red, orange and yellow would be the war zones you definitely don't want to live.The chart below overlays the green or yellow are the cheapest areas to overlap the along w the safest areas.  

But seriously though, there is no best way, that's the beauty of real estate.Bottom line:Write down your goals.

@Cameron Marmon No Tax Return is a major red flag!!

Problem is it’s a HUGE home that is already beautiful, with over an acre of land, but needs modern upgrades since it has original features like green carpet.

Kevin Nguyen Michael Le is right this is a huge red flag.

My Mom likes the idea of making T-shirts for home buyers with Sleeping Beauty's Castle on the front with the title "Before Escrow Closes" and the Haunted Mansion on the back with "After Escrow Closes".She nixed the idea of "Slumlord" outlined in Rhinestones -- she said too many people wouldn't understand the irony (my house is really nice).

This seems like a red flag to me...

Scottsdale is a beautiful place.

But more of the deals I am looking at are off loopnet (where deals go to die) in order to just get the idea down and to see what some agents leave off or add in (pro forma) in order to try and push the property.Right now I am trying to get more of a feel for what market I want to jump into and find the tricks (red flags) I can expect to see when it is time to start making moves.

I have seen, personally, some national marketing companies calling themselves Turnkey (they don't own the props themselves, they just advertise props owned by other companies around the country, red flag!)