We focus on renovating houses in those areas, and granted our houses come out really, really nice, but haven't had any issues at all renting them out!  

My purpose for asking this question is because if the same rule does not apply, then I would rather switch my focus to Sheriff's Sales.

Eric Trost from SVA is a wonderful real estate focused accountant.

This is not legal advise so be sure to check with your landlord focused real estate attorney regarding the information provided. 

It can get a bit overwhelming starting out, but if you can zero in on what you want to focus on, it doesn't seem so frightening.

That deal sort of fell in my lap so I'm doing the due diligence to ensure it's a win win, but it is a bit off course from my main focus of buy and hold sf and mf down the road.

I focus mostly on ocean front, bay front, and sometimes a block or so to the water for year round vacation rentals. 

It seems the cons are rather obvious (diverting my focus and attention, having to find another network of professionals I can trust, less economies of scale, more travel) and I'm not sure there are a whole lot of benefits.

I focus on vacant land and have had great success but I would like to dip my toes in the housing market by acquiring a multifamily property. 

For example, if you're excellent at SEO or website design - going online might be the sensible option to focus on.