People that don't have too much money (yet) and they use the fact that every gadamn clown has heard about "bandit signs", "Doorknocking" and "Driving For Dollars",  as "credibility" that they know what they are talking about because " yeahhh I have heard soo many people say that, and thus it must be true"..Driving for dollars is relatively "free"... so this is very attractive to people that are new, without a budget, that don't know any better.And those gurus are clever mind you.

Investors who took the leap of faith - attracted by the tax savings - found themselves in markets that were not economically increasing thereby impacting appreciation, rent price demand, and tenant quality. 

If it is an attractive deal, you can negotiate an ownership stake with no money down for simply being the "deal finder."  

But the home should still look conservative enough to be attractive to most buyers in the current market.3. 

Looking to buy something that would attract white collar professionals as tenants, and is likely to appreciate (timeline is a few decades and long term appreciation is more important than short term cash flow). 

@Nick Littleton personally, I have not encountered this issue (I've done numerous owner occupant mortgages, refis, and HELOCs, and no lender has ever asked me about my property management experience, or whether I'm using a PM, or anything about how the property is managed...other than asking to see signed leases that correspond with the rent income I reported on my taxes), so I was surprised by what you described......I'm interested to hear from the lending pros on here: is property management or property management experience a commonly used criterion for loan qualification? 

That's a huge step when starting as an investor.BiggerPockets is an incredible platform that offers numerous resources, so definitely take advantage of it.

-assessment of what types of tenants the property will attract--you need to know who your customer will be before buying the property (for instance, will it be mostly college students, or families, or seniors, etc.?).

I know this for a fact because I'm having trouble renting out my homes even after numerous price drops (I never had any problems before). 

This is an incredible platform that has numerous resources, so definitely take advantage of it all.