I think you need a proper PR team.The Bigger Pockets community has been a tremendous source of knowledge for me and I recommend it to everyone.

Sometimes, we tend to over pay tremendously just so we can be "in our own business".  

I respect @Ned Carey tremendously, but I have to disagree with his statement about how this agent is breaking the law.  

BP has a tremendous amount of information to help you, but it is only available if you seek it out.

Unless you have a plethora of experience or tremendous equity in a deal, it's not gonna happen.

Taking the time to read all the blog posts (yes, ALL) should take a while and give you a tremendous foundation to build on. 

If the neighborhood seems up and coming, there is a university or hospitals in the area, you know that the house will appreciate tremendously.

Tremendously appreciative of your post, that is very much a coherent strategy.As for LA I'm running into the issue that at 3k/month income the only way to get a 500k loan is FHA which is considerably more expensive per month (but I'm still meeting with lenders to determine options).

There's a tremendous incentive to fluff the figures to include any unheated sq. footage.

Distressed properties offer tremendous opportunities for buyers and investors alike."