I'm leaving his name out at this point, on the off chance that he's legit, I don't want to be slandering him across the internet.If not already obvious, please be careful.

I have heard that though most things are taken care of as you stated the biggest uncontrollable factor is the HOA.

Well...the Dayton Dragons baseball team has the most consistent sold out games of any sporting team in North America (startling fact), Warped Wing opened a second location, and a half dozen other breweries are now open in the city...Boston Stoker coffee is totally awesome and has several new locations (this is important because it's a key indicator for the successful revitalization of many cities...beer-food-coffee is key)...there is a river front development that is reminiscent of Columbus (which was awarded best on the country), there is big inner-city revitalization...I saw a developer by the name of Simms pre-sell 24 $500k "Brownstone" townhouses in the center of downtown (unheard of in Dayton)...there are 30 renovation projects going on downtown...and they now have a full time staff on the streets to keep the city clean...the population is on the increase for the first time since 1964....I mean this is pretty superficial, but it's every bit as important as economic indicators...there is a lot more to this...There are still "war zones" in abundance in Dayton and it's the Opiate Overdose capital of the USA...but getting better rapidly...just proceed with caution if you elect to invest there...a local subject matter expert is a must!

My name is Dan and I have been lurking on the site for a while after discovering it earlier this year. 

My name is Matt McCurry and I am starting my Real Estate Investment career now.

Even with crazy high rents, when you have to get into a property for 1mil, it's just hard for the returns to out pace the cost of capital, especially when you factor in all the other costs.The oddity with the last observation is that without capabilities these markets also tend to be the biggest challenge from an execution standpoint for someone just starting out. 

You can use tax records to look up the owner of a property and confirm that the person on the phone owns it (however they can lie about their name.)Its not to late to have a friend call and pretend to be a different landlord and ask these questions as well.

Also some won't offer the info you need, for example, the owner name. 2.

I live with my In-Laws and in the process of transfering the home into my name.

No notice of termination of tenancy served upon a tenant by a public housing authority organized under the Housing Authorities Law (§ 36-1 et seq.) of Title 36 shall be effective unless it contains on its first page, in type no smaller or less legible than that otherwise used in the body of the notice, the name, address and telephone number of the legal services program, if any, serving the jurisdiction wherein the premises are located.F.