Efficient public transit has alot to do with it; my station has 23 train departures between 8am and 9am, and the schedule looks like this:8:00 8:03 8:05 8:08 8:10 8:13 8:15 etc.Any delays off by more than a minute or so from the schedule:1) are rare; normally triggered by extreme weather like a typhoon2) trigger profuse apologies from the subway staff.Another major difference is the US approach to top-down city planning - you simply can't have a "neighborhood grocer" inside a big blob of residential zoning.

Almost pulled the trigger on a vacation rental in Grand Lake village but couldn't justify the numbers.

Check the comps, estimate your own rehab, and see what it can sell or rent for before pulling the trigger; trust but verify.

I want to have really good numbers before I pull the trigger.  

If you have a mortgage, you might consider putting your property in a land trust with the LLC as a beneficiary to not trigger the due on sale clause, the clause Melanie Smith mentioned.

One more question though: When it comes time to pull the trigger on a location, should I look for newly renovated/empty locations and look for tenants at market price, or should I look for places that already have tenants that are reliable but are rent controlled?

I should be ready to pull the trigger on my first non-personal residence rehab in the spring of 2015.My hobbies are golf, mountain biking and fixing up old cars. 

One of the main reasons I'm pulling the trigger on it is because it is completely turnkey, move-in ready.My inspector does his thing and finds some issues with the second bathroom (nothing crazy, but issues nonetheless).  

I spent about 6 months reading a ton of books about real estate before I finally pulled the proverbial trigger.

I would never put a clause like that in one of my leases but I have charged extra for pets and not waited to see if they cause injury.