This has caused many of the outlying cities to experience an increase in development, which makes it a perfect state for investment properties. 

Most 2nd position lenders will want the investor to have skin in the game (invest their own money) AND be paid a double-digit return.When you purchase property, you ALWAYS need to have reserves, but in this scenario, you really need to have reserves since you will need to make 2 large debt payments every month.

I've had bad experiences with two different property management companies in Columbus that stemmed from them not taking timely action on repairs that cost me a lot of money and also not identifying obvious things in inspections that led to higher turnover rates and increased the time that it took to get the unit ready for the next tenant. 

However, I'm open to hearing different perspectives and alternative investment strategies that fellow investors may recommend.With that said, I would greatly appreciate any insights, experiences, or alternative investment suggestions that you may have.

But seems like your experience in detroit should suffice. 

LTV is typically limited to around 70% and rates are in the double digits.

In my experience, FSBOs are notorious for bad photos.My $0.02 ...

It is important that you hire professionals who have experience working with foreign investors.

They should say, no, I will do it for you in hopes to get business.I think that a good GC with decades of experience should charge, say $200-$300 for 1) a review of the Inspector's report, 2) a jobsite visit, plus 3) a budget with prices that are pretty close.

As both a Realtor with over 32 years experience (and Broker in Charge and owner of my firm), and an Investor- I'll tell you that you will have MUCH more exposure in the market using a Realtor (we pay a LOT of money for marketing, Google SEO, and the MLS is linked to Realtor.com, Homes.com, Redfin, Trulia, Zillow (which we hate due to the massive inaccuracies), and to every other Brokerage's websites also in the area through Broker Reciprocity.