Unless there is critical mass showing that the area is transitioning, it's dangerous to be the first one (unless you control half the block and can create the critical mass) because the improvement may never gain traction.  

Also critical are location the "right" tenant, minimizing vacancy, and developing an efficient low-cost property management model.In order to grow, similar to other investors on BP, I also use cash-out refis and investor equity partners.

And yes, there is a lot of development going on there, so it would seem critical to buy at a price that can support lower rents for the older properties, given the upcoming competition.

Before you stage,call a local real estate agent and ask them to come over to see the property and give you an honest critical opinion as to the way the house is showing.Tell them you are not hiring them to sell it and just want an honest opinion.They are going to want some money for their time so offer a hundred bucks or so.They hopefully will show you why it is not getting offers like poor decoration choices(too cheap or ugly),Poor curb appeal(bad choice of paint and landscaping)or the neighborhood itself is worse then you think.Bathrooms,bedrooms,and kitchen may not be big enough for most buyers as well.

Having the IRA provider in your local area is not as critical as having real estate expertise in the locale that you are targeting for investment. 

. - think VERY SERIOUSLY about college. education is very important  but not all education is created equal. you will NOT need a fancy school or a degree to be a successful investor, state or community college might be just enough to learn basic principals and critical thinking.

As several posters said: get the critical info for the flip hes working on right now( get loan duration,investment,property value at time of sale vs. another year down the road....., crunch the numbers and show him the decline of the profits month by month after he missed the "sweet spot") get the info into a presentation and strap dad to the couch and force him to listen.

Account ClosedI actually have a very different experience and recommendation than the main stream RE Investors.I am a big proponent of being the best at what you are trained to do as an Employee at first.Once you do that, you will be in the top 10% salary of your profession.In my case, I was being paid around $200k around the year 2000 as a Computer Programmer working on mission critical Financial Software.No need to throw away what you studied for all these years, acquired a great deal of skills and also advanced certifications or degrees.Plumbers, Electricians, Computer Programmers (in my case), Janitors, Dancers, it doesn't matter.

I understand creating awareness, but just saying a bunch of criticisms without any potential solution is not very useful.

Did I miss something critically important from David Greene’s book on how to get started finding a market?