Good luck and have fun exploring the forums and articles.

If the P&L is not audited (or at least certified) then I would ask for tax returns and bank statements to verify them.Get financial vacancy numbers vs physical vacancy.

Ideally, you would have three physical bank accounts:  a cash account which holds the bulk of your money, an operating account which your checks are written from and bills are paid, and a deposit accounting to keep tenants deposits separate from your money.  

Unless you've lived in one of those markets before and really know it well, you're not gaining any advantage by investing where friends and family live - you'll be hiring a PM that knows the area, and you shouldn't have to check in on the prop physically with any frequency unless you just want to.

I agree with the article on a macro and national level.  

This did not sound right to me, i believe you cannot deduct your "rent" from the income of the property, you are the owner ( unless it's under a corp and you pay rent to the corp - possibly) That is considered your personal residence and all deductions need to be pro rated. here is an article to read: http://finance.zacks.com/tax-deductions-owneroccup...I would consult with a CPA on this, and BTW in your example you would both want to claim $400 so each had full deduction, not $0 for him.

Each State may have different requirements on deposits into accounts bearing interest, so be sure to verify.Use your accounting system to track rents due vs rents paiddeposits paid vs deposits heldWith Quickbooks, use the CLASS feature to track physical property and your reports will nicely snapshot your tenants

I read an article from Business insiders: The American suburbs as we know them are dyingIt's very interesting and basically talks about how the Suburbs are changing, malls are becoming ghost towns, and Millennials are move to more urban and efficient living spaces in denser areas where walkability is a benefit.Of course if all of this is true, buying into major cities ahead of the migration of younger people seems like an excellent strategy.In fact, we see this all the time and contributes towards a process of gentrification.

and if you physically fly out to the location, at what point do you fly out - to look at homes?

There was an article in the LA Times about this a few weeks ago.