@Kelly Jacobsson I'm quite active in the Knoxville Market...

That's great, except for the competition.It's a little farther away, but I think a lot fewer Boston people are trying to buy properties in Smithfield, Scituate, Johnston or Coventry (just for a few examples).I'd also recommend attending local real estate groups that are active in the area you're thinking about investing in, for example in RI I know there's one group that meets monthly in Warwick.Attend a group like that and make it a goal to meet (best) or talk to on the phone (less desirable but still good) investors who are local to the areas you're looking to invest in (not out of state as you'll be).

@Farzan SetayeshNothing out of the ordinary, but I use the combination of the following consistently:- google photo for agent photo/video sharing- docusign for executing docs- acrobat X for all other doc edits- whatsapp for texts and phone calls- online money wiring or ACH for large items- paypal or venmo for smaller items- zelle or ACH for collecting rent- yelp or taskrabbit for misc repairs- lawnlove for landscaping or snow removal - skype for group meetings- Dropbox for online record storage- google voice for call forwarding - email for all tenant communications - autodraft for all utility & mortgage payments- online payments for all taxes & insurance - google earth to survey neighborhoods for out of town purchases - amazon or HD for online parts ordering The automation & streamlining of low value tasks enable me to preserve time for higher value activities.

Since you're new to investing, go slow.1) identify how much time you can devote to investing2) based on nu. 1, determine whether you want to be active investor or passive one3) based on the conclusion in nu. 2, look into options available for either passive or active investors.I have a library of books.

The folks above seem to have given some sound advice and you seem to already be leaning towards being an active single-family home investor. 

They never cancelled the agreement because they didn't want to pay a cancellation fee and instead preffered to keep it active and a prove showing case by case.

Owning income real estate directly is one of the many ways of owning income real estate and the way most frequently discussed on BiggerPockets because it involves the most hands-on activity (and when done correctly, probably yields the highest return of all the different ways of doing real estate).

But as you said, for someone who is active, there are deals that don't fit your criteria.

Different levels of investment activity.

There are some scammers out there taking all of our listings and postings them as their own, taking deposits from unsuspecting tenants.It seems as if Craigslist is actively helping these scammers!