Two big causes of moisture I have observed are tenants running humidifiers and not using exhaust fans when in the shower (make sure your bathroom has an exhaust fan).

Are you simply observing things from afar now, or have your aspirations to invest in real estate returned? 

In my observations, a lot of well off people in the area seem to use these investments for tax reductions and not cash flow investments, making the cash flow properties even harder to find as prices are inflated by that demand and they could care less about positive cash flow.If you can boost rents to 1% or more of the purchase price as @Rich O'Neill suggests, you'll find its probably much closer to a worthwhile investment.  

@Sean Cole Interesting observation there.  

(It took a lot more effort to get in place than I thought it would, and I'm still working on ours)Another good option would be to partner with someone already invested in the area and observe and learn.  

When this is done, the cash flow off the building will more than cover my housing expenses.One final observation - if you think it is going to take you time to watch the markets before making a decision, consider becoming a lender over the short run (either by investing in hard money loans or re-performing notes).

Learn from them by learning how to be an asset to them and observe EVERYTHING about how they do what they do.

Anyone who is willing to partner on a deal, or at let me observe their process for a purchase?

A few observations.1.

Yes, that's a fair observation.