I’m honestly also subjective on this topic threadssince being a Wisconsin residentIf I was living somewhere else I would consider per Marco advice Indiana , Wisconsin , Texas and possibly Carolinas for leveraging your moneyMaybe have your relatives / old associatestake turn taking exterior photos every several months( beside solely trusting property manager pictures)Make sure you keep eye out for building code violationsProperty manager email you his/her photos ever few months( repairs of work started / completed )Give local police district your telephone number, so you notified of any issues at the propertiesVisit your potential properties maybe at least once every 3 months ( spring , summer , and winter )Approval all marketing your property manager publishCollect rent on-line for tenantsAlways have several exit strategies

For example, ask @J Scott if he would be interested in working with you if you had a SFH in Walton School district at 200k or how about a property off of Paces Ferry in downtown Vinings.

not many rentals in the area, go to the appraisal district website for your county/city whatever, go down the street and look at where the owners live,,if its at the address of the house, then its owner occupied, if the legal owner is listed at a different address, its a rental,,I try to not get into any area (and by that I mean the block the house is on on a few blocks in any direction), that isn't 80% owner occupied.3.I try to find mature neighborhoods,,not built in the 50's, but prefer 80's or so, I see too many new neighborhoods in the price range I look for (ARV of $100-$120k) that come crashing down,,more mature neighborhoods tend to change slower.4.

For my mid grade units or houses I'd know what elementary school was most desirable and where the borders for the school district were.

My realtor has me on an auto search program, and I get listings every day in Katy in the acclaimed Cypress school district for $80-$100K, so I definitely think you will be able to purchase a couple of homes with your cash available.If your realtor is not providing you with the info you need, time to find a new realtor - it's not like their in short supply right now.

We owe $110K and could probably sell it for at least $155K if the DFW market stays strong.Selling = $35,000 after making repairs and realtor feesRental = $1400-$1,500/mo (I am pretty confident that this is a conservative amount after months of stalking craigslist and MLS) with entire payment of mortgage, taxes, insurance of $1080Cons: The house has had recurrent foundation troubles (we paid $17,000 to fix it with a lifetime transferrable warranty, though), trashy next-door neighbors (they are really bad), and is not in a good school district.

Here is copy of form: http://www.courts.state.md.us/district/forms/civil/dccv085np.pdf The Baltimore REIA will hold a Landlord Meeting on Monday, May 19. ($25 and includes dinner) Please check their website for details.

If I were going to consider a condo, I would limit it to downtown or a suburb, particularly Jenks given the school district marketability.

The school district is very good.I've been trying to find other 1/1 apts for rent to compare but I am not finding much.

I don't want to oversimplify and/or make unsubstantiated claims, but I'm of the personal belief that you can't go wrong on the West Coast buying into the best school districts (THE best that is, not kind of close to the best).