@Christopher Oliver & @Michael Singh, not to shut down your real estate goals, but I think you will find it extremely difficult to find a reliable contractor to give you quotes for deals you are "looking at", especially if you are out of state. 

So even as people are buying (highest levels of consumer confidence), we just don't need as many physical retail stores or restaurants anymore.

Also multiple new restaurants and entertainment facilities including Starbucks and chic-fil-a.

I have a unique situation. I was renting a basement unit from friends who intended to buy a home on a land contract. They provided cable and internet and we paid half of the bill. the land contract didn't work out and...

@Mark Ainley  @Brie SchmidtI did the meter test by shutting off the water in the property and watching the meter.

The people that are making income this way, by prospecting new clients and not actually investing in real estate, will eventually lose all of their income when the company inevitably gets shut down.

Their car was parked next to the restaurant and was broken in. 

I'm really intrigued by the coming results of the slow down and shut down of some main stores and malls.

If so, if that plant were to shut down, that's 5,000 people no longer working, they would most likely have to move somewhere else for work.Personally, I started 1 1/2 diversifying to different MSA just for better protection against local economies struggling.Good luck!

Sellers look really favorably on an offer where you say you can close in a week for all cash with no contingencies.One reason for not putting longer term investments on lines though is keep in mind that a lot of investors got in trouble in the 'Great Recession' when banks shut down their lines.