First, I notice the obvious - in general neighborhoods take on the look and feel of their socio-economic and demographic constituency.

Basically getting an idea of the current and projected economic health of an area.

It is also very vague.Seeking legal advice from an attorney in the area where the property is located can be a wise and very economical decision considering the alternative.

This is from the IRS audit guide:"Partners are not able to allocate tax benefits among themselves in a manner that is divorced from their allocation of economic profit or loss.

Every time some midlife crisis happened to where the evaluations weren't submitted.

For some, the financial crisis never seemed so good.

Some, in association with local colleges.Some banks and other local businesses conduct monthly seminars that are very economical to free.School districts sometime offer seminars on a variety of subjects.Real estate trade schools offer many great courses.Many local colleges offer continuing education courses.Be Paid While You LearnA great way to be paid while you learn is to work for a seasoned investor who has a long and successful history of real estate investing, especially in the area(s) that interest you the most.

Some bidders seem defying the economic rule, bid way more than mls listings.

The economics of flipping houses forces you to be very careful and to be a fast learner.

^ appreciate your POV, but to challenge your notions a bit.1- I think you're over empasizing the dominance of wall st. jobs; NYC is quite diverse economically; tech, medical, new media, many unique private businesses, etc.2- speaking at least for manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, they are major destinations and are in demand event in slow economy (yes growth is affected, but at least you don't see -40% drops in appreciation like you do in FL, AZ, etc.)