Is it smart to have higher end rental properties ($400k and up) or should I invest in lower end / middle class rental properties?

If your agent is smart, the most they'll do is make a verbal offer at your price ... then, if the listing agent indicates a deal might be reached, then you formalize into a written offer.2) I'd take a closer look at the rehab costs to try and find ways to shave it down. 

In some cases the reasoning makes sense to me, as a property owner myself: it's not a smart business practice to rent to a tenant who is only in the country under a short-term status, who does not have proof of sufficient employment, who does not have a guarantor (we'd often just call them a co-signer in the US), and with whom the landlord cannot communicate (if the tenant doesn't speak good Japanese). 

Nothing is really wrong with the ones that are there now, but the bedroom ones are like the ones I grew up with in a mid-60s house (the square bent glass), and I figure they might like something more modern.  

Smart!!!

These are the ones that I can remember that stick out to me:Rich Dad Poor Dad/ Rich Dad Poor Dad for TeensTotal Money Makeover/ Entreleadership / Smart Money Smart Kids / (Dave Ramsey)Lead... for God's Sake!

We have some areas in Milwaukee that are exceptionally nice from an architectual point of view, when you look at the streets and housing stock - and happen to be in some of the lowest value ares in town - like along Sherman Blvd.I do believe that the proximity to the lake will play out at some point, but it will require a complete turnover in what currently makes the neighborhoods there, including housing stock and reputation.Every new investor wants to be the smart guy, who bought low in an up and comming neighborhood and looks like the smart guy a few short years later.

Think hard about wearing safety glasses, too, especially if you're working on the ceiling.In some areas, all you can easily get is "TSP substitute". 

Taking your 401k loan, paying for the property and refi after the rehab was a smart move.

I am a REALTOR and insurance agent and I would like to make the smart decision of getting a professional to help manage my finances and taxes.