@J Scott   yes the danger of BP  sharing the wealth  creating a new wave of competition at the Baltimore tax sales.I hear what your saying in many tax cert states the big boys come in and bid down the rates of return into the 5 to 8% range.. you have newer players thinking they are going to get this easy 18%...

In the last 2 years, we've acquired the equivalent of 19 city blocks in downtown Jacksonville (roughly 12% of all of downtown) so we can be a major player in downtown Jacksonville's growth which will raise market values and rents for all of our clients who own properties in the surrounding neighborhoods.All of these activities make a real difference. 

For the big players, I am about to market 75 acres within 5 miles of the site.

Regional players can be a nice balance, but ultimately it still comes down to what'll work best for your tenants. 

You can choose bigger players like Vacasa/Evolve to manage.. 3. self manage - save money, but need to deal with everything from marketing to booking  etc Good luck on your journey.

there are tons of lenders that don't need you to have 2y of self employment income on the books, and tons of RE investing strategies that don't need you to have provable personal income at ALL. so, if you've identified your strategy, location, team players, buy box, and where the money's coming from... and you've done your homework and have been practicing underwriting deals most days... why wait?

Columbus is also home to The Ohio State University, one of the largest public universities in the country, as well as L Brands, a big player in the retail industry.

Be a sponge there are lots of players here sharing what works today.

One important key element though that might help others like me in other areas is to connect with Property Management owners and other key players in the real estate industry because they have expanded access to the owners of properties, and have advanced knowledge of some properties that are about to be listed in the market to name a few.

You have been connected to this Greenville investor community for years and know the players.