My exposure to investment real estate is through REIT's (both public and private) because I live in the NYC area and don't want to spend a gazillion dollars on a building that's going to at best, produce paltry cash flow nor do I want to deal with laws that are far too in favor of the tenant.

@Aidan Mulligan  Spend the next two weeks writing up your rental ad, preparing your rental criteria and app, and finalizing your lease.

For instance, I self-managed while living in the property, but found it more difficult once I moved out so I hired a PM and couldn't be happier with the decision.Lastly, I don't think you need to spend over $1m for a 3 / 4 family. 

The number of times I've driven I-5 through Tacoma in the rain, convinced me long ago that there are better places to be spending my time than fighting traffic.

I'm thinking about spending around $250K, for something that can get $2200 in rent in future.

We're sure to get the one person commenting on this thread who will primly inform you that bleach doesn't kill mold and you need to use the super special expensive fungicide the mold remediation guy she knows convinced her to spend all her money on, but no...chlorine bleach for vinyl surface remediation will do the job.You did the right thing and put in vinyl in your basement. 

Maybe they want to sell and buy a property in Pahrump, Nevada where they can spend it all on coke and hookers.

If the average % rule is 0.6% and you come across a deal that is 0.85%, then you've found a deal even though you didn't hit the 1% mark because the property offers greater returns than other comparable properties in the same area.As Paul Choi said, Stockton is block by block, so best to at least spend an afternoon driving around the area you're considering investing in if you're not working with someone who's intimately familiar with the area and lived in the area for over 10 years...Ahem...

Do a google search on "australian investor entity site:www.biggerpockets.com" and spend some time on what your fellow investors do... 

@Donald Ruffin Don't spend more time on it.