And yes, I 'studied' what the gurus are selling (perhaps 1500 hours of my 'spare time,' in the first year...) and I didn't buy, save perhaps a grand on various lease option courses, to access their forms and agreements, vs. paying an attorney or three $5- 20k.

I previously have owned an STR in the beautiful town of Grand Haven, Michigan.

Same goes for water mains, most of those old buildings have what we now consider a tiny main, if you have a restaurant or any other high water usage biz going in, they'll NEED a larger main and that can be a lot, like well over 10 grand many times as they have to run a new main to the city line, which means tearing up the road in most cases.

Under the right circumstances it can be a real opportunity for a grand slam and worth consideration, but, it takes knowledge, capital, and a taste for some risk to make that grand slam happen.Don't be afraid to pay for good advice in areas you are lacking in knowledge or expertise.

Should I look for properties still (I am considering investing in my home town Grand Rapids, MI)?

My name is Zachary Horn, and I am a real estate agent here in beautiful Grand Rapids, MI.

@Aquila Kentish, the advice here are good but at the grand scheme of things, you need to identify with your goal in real estate investing.

My philosophy is to look at the cities and counties closest to the high-growth MSAs and provide a better housing product for those who cannot afford the core-city growth and pricing.To directly answer your question, I think the MSA indicates that when the market eventually does correct, you could interpret the data to show that the outer areas, not the cities, should encounter less negative headwinds, based on a comparison of pre-GR and post-GR trends.

I think you’ll find it’ll cost around 10 grand to start to get anything worth while.

These are not grand slam investments but solid line drive base hits over time.