There is always a collective "belt tightening" in January as people come out of the holidays, check their credit card statements, and promise to spend less, only to go back to their old behaviors a few months later.

I do most of my work inside the 95/128 belt and there are a lot of good deals around.

Sounds like you have a lot of good experience under your belt! 

I am a new real estate investor with one year and 3 buy and hold deals under my belt.

However I personally believe that you need to understand the marketplace and have years under your belt before venturing in.  

Everything was going pretty great until the rug was pulled from under me during what I thought was going to be my first deal under my belt.

Cold belt states rural areas to weak suburban is really taking a hit.

It's definitely not a wealthy town, but there are tons of rentals that you can acquire for a lot less than inside the 128 belt.  

Even if you eventually back out, if the seller can get the bank to show their hand, it is a small win for their side.There are many more reasons I would want an agent on my side in a short sale particularly if I only have one or two under my belt.

It usually is a low growth state or a warm belt state with weak suburban to rural area instead of strong suburban to urban core.So if an investor is accredited and has say 300k but wants assets with 3 million quality the answer might be to invest with a retail sponsor on larger high quality projects and locations.