However, I was thinking of paying the owner of a store in a good traffic area, say, $500 per every deal that he refers to me that closes to let me place a bandit sign on their business premises.

Had a ton of traffic, but few offers.Good call on the total room count, definitely missed that..lol

It is about a forty minute drive North of the city without traffic and up to 90 minutes in rush hour.

I agree with people in saying invest where the jobs are as people don’t want to drive an hour to work and fight traffic if they can help it.

Sometimes paying up is cheaper when it holds up to high traffic.

They are not having to pay higher rents for the anchor tenant like in a mall and get better visibility and more frequent traffic from rooftops.20 to 25 years ago we went to the mall as maybe a gas station and one supermarket existed where we live.

Majority of it’s saved.Living with parents in SoCalGoal Move out of parents’ houseBuy a property close to work (30min in traffic to Downtown LA) Target area: Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley (A neighborhood for safety reasons)Price range $300K~ $400K for 2bd condoAction Budget expenses to save more money for 20% down paymentCreated a spreadsheet and figured I could save $1000 per paycheck, $2000 per monthCreated a spreadsheet to project my savingsTimeSpring 2010SituationOwn more than $80K in the savingsGoalPurchase target condo in Pasadena (short sale, some repairs needed)Action Made spreadsheet to find out if I can afford the condo and the repairs neededProceeded to offer and eventually got the condo with 20% downReceived 1st time home buyer credit, $8000 from fed, $1000/3 years from state House Down payment $71,800 House Price $359,000 Loan $287,200 % Down Payment 20.0 Loan Term (Year) 30 Loan Interest Rate 5.25 Monthly Payment $1,586 TimeMay 2010 – Jan 2014Situation The majority of my paycheck is tied up in the houseFrequent plumbing problems including leaky toilet from upstairs unitHOA reserve is underfundedCondo hacked by renting out spare bedroom at $900/moGoalUpgrade to a more effective investment propertyAction Fixed up condo with credits receivedPut in new flooringSold condo at $428K, cashed out with a total of $200KPurchased SFR in the suburbs (Pomona) and leased it out for $500/mo Free Cash FlowLeft with $80K in the savings and growing at $3400/mon.Now looking for another investment propertyLessons Learned My parent's education fund for me gave me a kick start.

With the traffic in this town, everything that I could afford would be an 1hr+ commute each way, which I don't want to do.Invest long distance: I am familiar with my small town's real estate market.

Each market is different, but what I found when I started collecting first,last, security was I did indeed get less foot traffic, but it DID NOT affect the number of qualified applicants crossing my path. 

Closer in it seems to depend on proximity to certain high traffic commercial areas that attract criminal activity and nearby apartments where tenants are not screened as well and security/visiting rules enforced.