The majority of the tenant pool do not consider the environment in selecting accommodations and it is therefor not business wise to spend capitol dollars to target a tiny portion of the market if it prices out the majority.

I'm not sure what type of person you're targeting but cologne seems sort of shiester to me.  

Geode Pratt I am currently saving towards first rental purchase and targeting the Arlington area (starting in my backyard).

Good property management companies deal with this all the time and will know how to handle it in your target market.  

Look, a solid comprehensive system you can step into and, with hard work and a lot of time, be successful with, would be welcome indeed especially if integrated with a real estate license program targeted at investors not retail sales.

I'd like to target something in the 1.25%+ rent to "all in cost" (purchase + rehab) range.Where are other investors currently finding deals in the 1%+ range?

They sleep within 36 inches of where they feed, so I knew the target area was near where I slept.

The key is to focus and network in the market you wish to target/ invest in. join the local REA. it took me around 3 month of hard work researching, monitoring sales and following new listings etc.to become somewhat an area expert. once you Know the values in the area and network with key players in the area it is much easier to invest out of state.It is possible to invest from afar but one need to do the ground work first, travel to the area regularly form the relationships with fellow investors, professionals and realtors.

We do see more Chinese investors targeting multiple cities in the US.1) LA,SF, NYC, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and DCWe see hundreds of inquiries for these cities every few weeks.

@Dawn Anastasi  the reality is these lending schemes that just collect up front fee's and due diligence fee's have been around for as long as I have been in the business  42 years now.Its just now that the off shore folks are hammering us.. those guys are serial  in what they do and the word probably has spread around about social real estate networks and the easy targets.