That trick, selecting areas, towns, and neighborhoods,... 

What tips and tricks do you have?

But let me assure you, professional fake landlords will still fool anyone with your trick questions. 

There really is no "trick" to it.

Charles Ponzi discovered this trick, he's famous now, keep it up, you may be too. 

Please share your experiences, pros, cons, tricks and tips. 

and why did that do the trick?

I encourage a trip there before you invest money blindly.You can see for yourself what they truly mean by "good neighborhood".It is very easy to trick out of towners into thinking a 10,000 house is just too cheap not to buy.

Just wanted to share a neat trick I picked up from a realtor in Albert Lea, that I modified with the help of @Tim Swierczek, who found a site with a totally free form I can use to pre-screen tenants.So, the realtor associate in Albert Lea told me she pre-screens before anyone sees the place. 

The trick really is to not loose focus of growing your cash flow.