You have the college side of New Brunswick, the downtown corporate area, and to the left of the RWJ hospital is where it starts to get bad a little.

I'm looking to do a flip in Atlanta and my issue with my first house that I purchased was dealing with bad contractors.

I also think it is a good idea to minimize your taxes now, while positioning yourself the best you can for the future (where everything is an unknown).It certainly would not be a bad thing to also use your retirement accounts to invest in real estate (as long as you are very careful to follow the rules- avoid self-dealing!). 

You can get your deals done right on this site, so congratulations Nick and I wish you all the best in your real estate investing career.

Real estate gets much harder if you have bad credit.

Do you think it is a bad idea to purchase near these vacant properties?

As @Rick Pozos mentioned, if it's listed, and it's been on the market a while, it's likely overpriced, has a major issue(s), or the surrounding area is so bad that it's driving buyers away. 

I'm looking for a career in manufactured home sales, my nay sayers say stay away, but I say otherwise. 

There are many experienced investors on here that will analyze your deal and make sure it is structured correctly.So in summary, the first thing I would do as a real estate investor is EDUCATE MYSELF.And we are happy to help in any way we can.Once again, congratulations and I wish you the best in your real estate investment career, Jason!

I am interested in the wholesale part of the real estate niche as I have bad credit and no money but I also am a law abiding citizen.