I'll get to know the neighborhood better and will definitely tread lightly and have my boots on the ground or someone else I can rely on.

Any time you invest it can be risky. some people have horror stories about renting to college students some love it, i personally have two of them and have had no problems. you can make some good money with college rentals. keep an eye on what the college is doing, i bought these two, SFH &  a 2 FH  - the college has been doing a lot of work including new dorms, there was a report done saying they still would not have enough housing and will rely on off campus housing to fill it, two years later, enough students did not want to stay in the dorms and the college turned and mandated that all Freshman AND Sophomores must live in the dorms. this has put a dent in the rental business in town ( i've been pretty lucky because i fixed up my places when i bought them). so you do not know what will happen any where.

Sad the advisors, attorney's we rely on,  who recommend doing this don't either.

When it comes time to actually put money down, you can bet I'm not going to be relying on Zillow for property valuations.

Vacancy rates, repairs, rents, utilities, taxes, insurance, etc. are those realistic (hint, do NOT rely on the 50% rule for your answer)?

Do you rely on 1 contact more than others and if so, what sets that person a part from the rest? 

Direct Message me if you would like to know of those that don't require disclosing the profit.Title Companies and Closing Attorneys in other states are happy to do double closings without disclosure to all parties as long as the B Buyer brings their own funds to the closing and doesnt rely on the C Buyer's funds to "pass-through" escrow and be used to payoff the A Seller.

We take the information you provide us and that we believe we can reasonably rely on, and prepare your returns.

If you speak with an agent that is essentially relying solely on that syndication, a yard sign, and other "passive" forms of marketing; keep looking.  

But in order to capitalize on other peoples coming losses, I don't believe the ONLY way to prepare is to rely on the cash-flow of mortgage-free properties (which seems to be @Mike F.'