@Justine Scheuher To be safe, yes it just sits there. 

I have been driving for dollars and taking an hour a day to drive around to check out these pre-foreclosures & vacant homes the last 2 weeks and then if they look like a good fix n flip or rental, then I will go home and write a hand written letter to them.

Of course it's all about comfort level and what kind of rentals you buy but you can certainly play it safe and do waaaay less than 100% cash.

If you are offering similar amenities at similar prices, it is very hard to convince a customer to drive farther from home to store their stuff. 

FIlled a contract in on teh hood of the car and closed the next afternoon.Get a map of a small zip and drive it, door knock everything trashed, vacant, uncared for, FSBO.

It's a safe area, good schools, right by a grocery store, and on a dead end street (no traffic).

Yes, I realize there are better deals to be made out there; but for my first investment property it seems like a pretty safe way to get my feet wet.

I will talk with my attorney about this, but I wanted to hear from people on here who have done this and may know some good tricks or tips to making this a profitable and relatively safe deal.Thanks!

I guess I'm thinking in terms of being able to drive to the property if necessary,up to 2 hrs would be ideal, but not opposed to 4.

Fly here, drive around, and get a feel for the areas you’re about to invest in.