I'm not ready to gamble my money at sheriff's sales yet.

You should establish a relationship with a local title company.

This method requires you to have a lot more cash since you gotta be out of pocket with cash before you get your money back to recycle and proceed to phase 2.The HELOC route is the because once you establish the line of credit you can pull it or use it at will, but the downside is the HELOC is only based off the current fair market value (FMV) of your property today so you cannot borrow against the after improved value (less access to future equity).

@Gerald O'Brien a quiet title action means that there is uncertainty regarding who has legal claim to the property, and someone (likely an investor since 1528 N Leithgow St is a 500 sq ft vacant lot, not a house) is trying to buy it or establish their claim to it. 

There is a Mortgage Recording Tax of around 2.175%So imagine you buy a property worth $2 Million, put down 20% or $400k.Then you create another lien, say $500k.That will cost you $500k x 2.175% = $10,875.Further, if you really want to make this a valid loan, you would probably create a LLC, fund it the $500k, have it establish the new lien on the property, let it get paid the Interest.Now you will have to pay tax on the Interest and filing fees for the LLC and have a CPA do your Tax Returns.That might be worth it to someone, but to me, it's a little over kill when you can just get an umbrella policy for less than $300 per year that will cover you an additional $2 Million.

. : )Hi Sonya,Ohio is a great market along with many others in the Midwest.I always stress to new investors to focus more on establishing trust and relationships with key people on the ground rather than looking at the stats and demographics of a particular area straight off the bat.Every time I lost money in real estate wasn't due to the numbers not working in the deal.

Some goals that I have set for myself are:*Become an avid member in local REIA groups*Start a real estate investing company in the next 3-4 months *Get my first wholesale deal in the next 4-6 months*Build long-lasting relationships through real estate investing I have a deep passion for building relationships and I'm hoping to establish some great ones here wth the BP community!!

You have to establish some relationships and then cultivate them.

Some locations I’ve considered are Indianapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Charlotte, and Baltimore, because they appear to be better suited price-wise for someone just getting into the game, and their rental markets seem stable and profitable.I’ll be in the US for about 4 weeks from the end of May to the middle of June, and in that time I hope to visit at least one potential location to meet with brokers, and try and establish a working relationship with an accountant and lawyer, and other investors.

Sounds like you have pursued establishing a solid base via 401K and conservative investments and then plan to continue to gobble up more good REI deals.