@Ana Nomys welcome to the site.There are lots of opportunities to invest in low barrier to entry high cash flow markets in the Midwest such as PA, Michigan & Ohio.

Also make sure you designate if it was a tenant specific purchase (paint for just their unit) or a building expense (paint for the entry and hallways) because they are deducted differently when you live in part of the building.2.

None of the listing sites seem to be at all useful for my area so I scoured the county assessor data for months to build my own absentee owners list.

Not having access to big data (ie accurate rent rates, what neighborhoods are good to buy in, etc)And having to create systems as you move along.Oh and having people respond to emails.

I invest in Ohio as well and know Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus pretty well if you need any data on them or just advice on areas to stay away from in those markets.

I am going to spend hours and hours compiling data and this buyer is never going to buy anything.What have you done to show this agent you are serious and it is worth it for them to spend time on you?

I found a few threads on researching areas that were basically on where to find data.

However, there is RenterInc, which looks like it's legal and gets data from multiple databases, so there are more chances of getting a result on your applicant.

They'll assign you an escrow officer, and likely set you up with an online data account.

I never get why this method is so low on the priority list.They provide actual data of REAL owners who OWN rentals in the target market.