Personally, I think the taxes are high and the services you get for your taxes low there.I know people that invest in Detroit but you must know the area down to the street and have excellent property management.However, I just talked to my CPA today about a referral he was sending me who is a client of his that has 30 rental properties in Detroit and selling them all because the City doesn't really help, charges for everything, and they never have given a security deposit back to a tenant after they stayed because of their behavior or lack of payment.

Thank youStaton As long as it was advertised and available to rent you can deduct it.The only exception is if you had personal use above 14 days in that year.

- Should I use my own capital up front or try to partner with an established land flipping business to fund the deals? 

Lacking sufficient funds for a 20% down payment, I am exploring lenders offering 90%-100% LTC to minimize my upfront investment.

If anyone is interested in financing options for large projects such as hotels and resorts feel free to reach out to me - my partner is in the process of funding a hotel in El Paso, TX and we're looking to do more.

talk to the dept of health first (records requirements etc), establish what upgrades/maintenance required, line up a reliable repair/handyman/type person, consult lawyer, and then make your offer, see if you can buy the land it's on via lot line adjustment (ideal scenario). a lot to be aware of, such as system upgrades or county code changes bringing in the requirement to add metered connections to an older small system, for just one example.Otherwise- owner doesn't want to manage, I doubt you really do either but could be wrong. 

I had called Audible and ASKED if the CD was available...which means I want the info ON THE CD...and the person I spoke to just said the CD was not available with the audio version...so why not tell me that the information is available ON THE AUDIBLE WEBSITE?

What you are describing is using private money to fund your deals.

You are not the first person to bring this up.

It seems like a rural setting is about the only place a person could place one.