Then to make matters worse after I’m already discouraged about my efforts as a real estate investor, I come home to find a dead chicken in my front yard wrapped up in a black plastic trash bag.

High end black and grey work nothing trashy/offensive. 

The categories I'm most interested in like creative and personal finance are buried in the absolute black hole of the bottom anyway, but agree many choices should be gone. 

I was into REI & stocks, but abandoned the equities after the infamous Black Monday (1987), so I concentrated on just accumulating Real Estate.

@Steve MorrisAnd at the same time Black Rock was 100% ready to make the deal with LB to acquire if the debt could be carried by the fed long enough to execute the deal.

Although have yet to do an FC in MD with an HOA, a quick glance indicates that this, fortunately for you, is very black and white. 

What you're asking is the same thing as if you wanted to buy a car, and asked "how much should I save for a deposit on a new car"....and, saying "10 units, all 2 bed/1 bath, etc..." doesn't make it any easier than saying, "SUV, sunroof, big engine, black exterior, charcoal interior, leather, nice stereo, power seats, seat heaters, etc...".The only way of knowing is to find a property or two that might interest you, then find out how much they cost. 

You're going to be testing with postcards, mailers, lists, black/white vs color, etc. 

I do like to head to Louisiana for black drum a few times a year as well. 

On this side of getting my license and working in the industry, I can tell you it's not a clear black-and-white decision where having your license is obviously better.