@Jordan DecuirI have made contact with an agent on Linked in and she has mentioned working with me but I am not sure if she is as up to the task as I would hope.Without her being compensated, initially, for some of the things I am asking, I feel as if she is putting me on the back burner (so to speak).I just did the @ and your name but nothing was prepopulated.

I provide work for them to do, tell them on what days it needs to be completed, and how many hours or lump sum I am willing to pay them for in order to complete the task, but I can't dictate when they work.SO...

Thanks,My guess is that some newer investors find hiring contractors to be a daunting task (which it most certainly as for newbie investors) and they think that by partnering with a contractor, it relieves them of the responsibility of having to do their due diligence, put together a scope of work, put together a budget, etc.The problem with that reasoning is that they aren't relieving themselves of the responsibility -- they are just transferring it to someone who probably isn't any better at than they are, and are locking themselves into a relationship that would be a lot more difficult to extract themselves from than just firing a contractor.Plus, investors tend to make less money this way.In other words, partnering with a contractor is most often a lose/lose situation for an investor.

Some cities have seen unit growth of 30%-50%.

The growth from there down to San Antonio was noticeable and I imagine it's booming now. 

The last two months I have put a LOT of work into two units since I was getting them ready but once they are good to go at the end of the week on the last touchups, it is less than an hour a week in property management tasks for the four. 

Yes the growth may not be as much as Madison but the investor money is also less.

While I don't know if the locations are "up and coming", there is an appreciation play if the growth of University City extends to those areas in the next 10+ years. 

Just expect the growth to be exponential, and to come at the tail end, not linear.

The high property taxes , negative population growth all had me rule out Illinois as a potential place to buy an SFH as a rental property.But due to the slow pace and difficulties that comes with finding the right SFH investment in another state, I am having a rethink.