Both are great and you will meet some very knowledgable people from a variety or areas within the field.

Obviously, it's impossible to remove risk entirely, but we have a variety of ways in which we reduce risk pre and post investment.

There's even a special name for the Rednecks of my particular variety: we're called Three-One-Fivers.Quick MLS search turned up a distressed REO about 30 minutes from Downtown Rochester and all the major employers in the area: http://www.century21galloway.com/real-estate/MLS-S...When it's done it probably rents in the $900-$1000 range, depending on the rehab.  

If no, I tell them to let me know when they have the signed deed and HUD so that I don't have the funds sitting in escrow any longer than necessary.Just keep in mind that they frequently blow right through the closing date in the contract.

Walid Elfoly I work with a hard money lender that can provide a variety of different products at better rates than that with proof of stabilization.

I am not shy about asking "frequent visitors" and long term "guests" to demonstrate to me that they indeed live elsewhere. 

The alternative to that is beating the streets and networking with neighbors, niche wholesalers, and a variety of other obscure acquisition methods.

There is a wide variety of jobs that I may be qualified for, but most of them don't seem like anything I would enjoy.

I will be frequenting auction sites to see if anything that sparks my interest pops up.

I do drive by the properties frequently, however, am considering paying the extra money to the management company for more frequent inspections.