One of the things I did when I started was to just go for control of property that was run down or vacant or whatever by using the old straight option.

Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

I am now venturing into other strategies, but buy and hold with a good interest rate and a payment you can control when the rents don't come in is powerful overtime. 

I'd rather focus my efforts towards building a following and culture that is mine, which I control, and will hopefully make money from down the road.

It may work well for them and it's a winner even if they work 50 hours a week as they were making 20k before and they control their own destiny. 

If these folks have lived there for a while maybe they are just a little control freakish about protecting their complex - especially if the last person was deviant and there are a bunch of renters - they probably have been through a lot and have to stay on top of things.  

I have a rent-controlled apt at a decent rate here and am happy to stay put for awhile while learning about real estate.

Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

Our intent is to protect our nearby property by controlling what goes up on that property - and would be happy to sell our share to them or let them work off their payments via the rentals over time. 

I still haven't closed on any properties yet, but at least I do have my LLC in place for when I act.I still feel that I need more education in regards to controlling properties without using my own cash, but I'm going to at try to purchase some auctioned REOs or foreclosures and getting my feet wet that way.