I tend to stay away from any properties with "compromised" locations - busy street, power lines, commercial adjacent, etc - unless it is a phenomenal deal.  

I live and invest in GA, and both areas tend to be good rental markets; but you absolutely "must" know the "hot pockets" (and cold), in order to pull the proper returns out of your investments; and I think that's something the company didn't proper explain to you (assuming they knew).

Since you are interested in several areas of real estate; decide which one you feel the most comfortable with and try it.Interaction with more like minded individuals tend to speed up your learning curve and experience.

The clients that tend to be more meticulous seem to have it correct at the end of the year.A benefit to doing it during the year is your financial statements more accurately reflect where your costs are going, instead of just at the end of the year.

That's why real contracts (as opposed to guru class contracts) tend to be many pages.  

., @Joe Fairless CBRE Research had an update end of last month on Asian offshore/cross-border investments:Asian outbound CRE investment grew by 8.9% during Q2 2015, to US$10B.Intra-regional CRE investment declined by 40%, YOY, reflecting Asia's challenging investment conditions.China remains the largest source of Asian capital, while the US has just surpassed the UK and the top destination.While New York remains Asian CRE investor's top US city, Boston, DC, Seattle and Los Angeles have captured a ~40% share of their US investment capital so far in 2015Asian capital flows into the Pacific have increased 63% in the past year.Taiwanese buyers are on track to nearly triple their 2014 overseas investment volume.H1 2015 saw 30% of Asian outbound CRE investment go to hotels.Our private equity clients with Asian investor backing are searching for two different opportunity sets depending on the investors' prior experience with CRE in the US: Those new to the market want the gateway city trophy asset, but those who've invested here before tend to be more willing to branch out and invest in opportunities with more upside, say value ad deals in secondary markets.Good hunting-P.S.

You may or may not be able to get $50 more in rent because it looks good, but the quality tenants will tend to apply, not just drive by!

I have a rental in a golf community built in the 70s with EBB heat.Each unit has its own built in thermostat, so it takes some tweaking to get the settings just right, based on the usage of each room (don't forget bathrooms, etc).Also, in PA, you can select your energy generation company but all of them tend to increase rates in winter.

Although the thought of partnering with a contractor could work, also remember that contractors tend to have a certain reputation.

Afterwards, then you can work on your own home as much as you want (although this will now be on your time and your dime).FHA loans generally cost a bit more overall and tend to have a higher mortgage insurance, which you can only get rid of if you re-fi out of the FHA loan.