I did plan to wait to purchase any pure investments until we were there and I could physically see the areas involved.

There may very well be safety problems, too.If you want a way to use that basement space that adds income, find out what you are legally allowed to do and do that.

My goal has and always well be 4 green houses, 1 red hotel :)What are some of the biggest challenges you have had with your hotel investments?

Ready to record is title company going to the court house to physically record the deed for the new buyer.

I strongly suspect that the tenant has mental health issues, because he is on SSI, but has no apparent physical disability. 

. :))Temp CO will work if you can also prove physical occupancy with utility bills etc.

You could say that you are bringing in a great deal and getting it way undermarket, but then, they don't necessarily want to be holding property (as they generally aren't in the business of being landlords) and would underwrite it differently than an investor.Now, if it is seller financing, that would be a completely different story, and could very well be a good deal, depending on the exact numbers. 

That might very well be doable in your neck of the woods but its something to look at. 

Books that have helped calm my initial anxiety about purchasing an asset that I cannot physically see on a daily basis and have helped me narrow down my top markets have been David Greene's Long-Distance Real Estate Investing & David Lindahl's Emerging Real Estate Markets.

Like maybe having prospects fill out an app and paying the fee even before they let the prospect physically view the unit.