Can't speak to Boston particularly... but how many buyers scrolling through Zillow will skip over your house due to the front yard looking like crap?

, unless you build your breakfast bar up above the stove a few inches.

But (I know I should stop starting sentences with conjunctions, I skipped college English) there is a redeemed house that is back from the dead up to rejoin the living.

We skipped the septic inspection on one of ours and it costs us nearly $40k and two years to finish the project and sell it.  

Then Maybe you could skip the vacant property insurance.

Of all of the podcasts I listen to (mostly about multi-family investing) and people I talk to, I've only heard one person say that they aren't buying right now, intentionally.Now clearly, a 'deal' is something that cash flows or will make profit from day one.I'm not saying skip over a true DEAL.What I'm asking though, is if there are experienced investors who've been through more than one full market cycle, that have periods of not buying ANYTHING, even if there 'are deals out there'?

I think sending mailers to a specific group of sellers will be the best way to find off market deals with my criteria, and I am trying to learn the process and would love suggestions on search criteria that have been helpful when creating sellers lists, and what list broker you found most helpful.Oak Park, ILJefferson Park, ChicagoWicker Park, ChicagoBucktown, ChicagoLogan Square, ChicagoHumbolt Park, Chicago (nicer east pockets by Wicker Park)Hazel Crest, ILHomework, ILFloosmoor, ILTinley Park, IL"Northwest Indiana".. not that familiar to be honestWhere in greater Chicago am I skipping?

I skipped it.Nowadays, I own MR in good areas, I'm the owner, and I'm the boss.

3) Should I skip this step, and go right to larger multi-family units, partnering with other investors?

I find it hard to find reliable real estate information from friends: many do not care so much about real estate, and those who did had relatively dated information (telling me to buy in Austin TX or Phoenix AZ after the appreciation had come).Sales people cannot give you impartial advise indeed, so you have to skip the sales talk and look at what impartial sources tell you.