Knowing the streets, neighborhoods, crime is a huge advantage compared to investing out of state.    

Lenders are not stupid that they will give away credit to every Joe Blow who walks off the street.

Hey, I’m an investor with single and multi-family homes who has a green thumb and a day job as Garden Center Manager for a garden center/ landscape outfit in Buffalo on Main Street 14214.

A property the same size as the one I'm closing on just listed for $389k down the street (granted its a list price not a closed sale price).

AntifragileScaling Up (this book had a big impact on my non-real estate business)Americana: a four hundred year history of American capitalismE Myth Revisited (although I would skip or skim the first third of the book)The Knack: how street smart entrpreneurs learn to handle whatever comes upOther random selections:HealthThe Good Gut (interesting look at our gut microbiota and how it impacts our overall health by two Stanford immunologists)Becoming A Supple Leopard or Deskbound (both by Starret)InspirationalThe BibleUnbroken

Ah cool, I've had my office across the street from the former location of Graffiti Junktion for nearly 7 years now (corner of N Hyer and E Washington), and Thornton Park has been a great investment albeit not that great for cash flow.

The thing is is street by street. some are really bad and still lots of abandoned housing and others have all of these remodeled homes.

(Not a location I'd want to live in though because Falk is a fairly busy thorough street.) 

Your experience and that of your tenants can be very different street to street.John

"Street Name" Land Trust Trustee xyz (whatever buyer that is in Step One)4.