We were thinking of buying in Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN and Salt Lake city.

I was thinking to buy the right place and lease it out instead.

out of state offers many investors in high priced markets a chance to play when they cant play at home.

Someone else found the deal and was going to be the primary operator, and he needed several million dollars to buy the property, and was having trouble raising money. 

Currently buying a property in Cleveland and need to explore financing options.

We also spoke with the unwanted guest's probation officer who told us he had his hands tied and couldn't force the unwanted guest to leave my rental.Based on all of this information, we decided to give the main tenant one last chance to clean up his act as we felt bad kicking out an old veteran with a dog in the winter.

Two major differences here are:  (1) most "investors" in the mid 2000s  we're not buying for cash flow.  

Any chance you have colleagues investing in the area who might be willing to share their experiences and perspective?  

Dang, i was really looking forward to buying his course.

If the owner is going to buy and sell their properties with us than we don't charge anything for any renovation.