Yes talking to sellers or their neighbors face to face is very effective at finding referals to deals and homes forsale in the area.A good new person read:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/03/0...The secret to being successful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

My wife and I got tired of watching the stock market screw with our retirement, so we took out a HELOC, started and LLC and purchased 3 small apartment units. 

I don't want to micro manage the property, but as I was about to leave, I took a phone call in my car and watched two other people enter the property who are not on the lease, thus confirming the tenant's concern in my opinion. 

After reading countless books and watching many podcasts on this topic I understand the process.

I don't advertise month to month I don't want transient renters, once they show up for appointment and if theyI feel they are good candidate before application I let them know I'm month to month only.. never had a issue yet.Ya need to watch some Judge Judy.. :)

We travel for business; in our spare time, we gamble, visit museums, go to the beach, and watch movies and TV with video on demand via a high-speed connection.http://www.esri.com/data/esri_data/ziptapestry

I prefer this over having a  emergency maintenance approach on items I know will be a significant inconvenience for both myself and my tenants when they fail..When it comes to a item like a water tank that I know is near the end of it's life I watch for tanks on sale and buy them ahead.

@Kishore PathanjeliThe Ultimate Beginner's Guide is a pdf you can download here https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingThere is also a video version of it that you can watch here https://www.biggerpockets.com/courses/a-beginners-introduction-to-real-estate-investing

What to  look for in a nutshell, emotional equity, clean title, payment history ( when was the last payment) watch for taxes, is their actually a house on the land....

Besides drive by, title search, recorder office for liens, anything else to watch out for before bidding on?