Hello--I only own one rental property, but also live on the other side of the duplex, so those are my special circumstances that may not apply to you. 

I am in the process of working through a short sale transaction.My real estate agent, who I have come to know pretty well, asked me to call the county and city assessors office to verify whether there are any "special assessments" on the property.

Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbookCouple good reads  9 Reasons You Couldn't Find A Buyer For Your Wholesale Deal Don't Start Wholesaling Until You Read This: Wholesale Advice from a Fix and Flipper How to Start Wholesaling: Getting Past The Education and Into the FieldYou might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing.

Alot of changes out there, some states have made some special rules that effect lease/options.  

Investors can operate like a Special Forces operator in the battle, they can have greater knowledge of the battlefield, be able to move quickly, operate silently, change tactics quickly, adapt to conditions and strike, while the big boys move in mass, like an invading army, bringing nothing to the community but pillage and plunder.

We are buy and hold, others are wholesalers, bird dog, flippers etc.

Look for recent (past 2 years) of warranty or special warranty deeds transferred where no deed of trust was filed, that is 90% of the time a cash buyer.

I use a realtor who specialized in short sales because the banks pay the commissions no matter what.

We are dealing with a local bank who specializes in rental property loans.

If crowd funding portals do not specialize, i.e., promote investment in almost any space that they perceive as meeting their vetting criteria, how can they expect to generate returns anywhere near the Specialized VC firms?