Wasn't worth the headache and these people can make your life a living hell to the point you just sell the thing as fast as you can.

My goal is to buy the properties with conventional financing, repair them to a rent ready condition if necessary, and hire a property manager to rent them out.

NCRR can be reduced, In some cases, sellers just want to hand you the property so they can get with their life.

Analyze the home’s condition, possible repairs—what does it look like it needs?

I was always concerned about having reserves for the house I was buying, but completely disregarded reserves for life outside of RE.

I have experience in the full life cycle of taking a piece of raw land all the way to occupancy of the end user. 

Keep it vague- you buy houses in any condition and any situation. 

However, I still would do a complete analysis of the life expectancy of all your major components and appliances. 

Redfin is decent for comps, go all the way to the bottom of the page of a similar recently sold house in your market and it lists other similar recently sold houses so you can compare square feet, condition of the house, lot size, school district, etc.

I live in Los Angeles, CA but the contractor would be on the ground and onsite for the first year, with me moving back home in 2020.My beginning steps was the Detroit market - after a year of research only this past Monday did all conversations lead to Atlanta.Any and all answers, suggestions, and advice is greatly appreciated, as this is my very venture into anything real estate.From what I vaguely know of Riverdale - make that your very last option as crime and lack of job growth was not too positive as of late 2017...only my one cent.Most excellent luck to you in bringing my birth city to life!